Uncorking the Black Pearl
by xxz0eyxx
Summary: After joining Captain Teague's crew aboard the Troubadour, Vikki sails on a dangerous quest to find the Four Sacred Rings. But what happens to the hopeless romantic when not one, but two charming pirates catch her eye? Can a certain 'broken' compass help her find out what she wants the most? Will she ever find her lost father? JackxOC
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: I do not own Pirates of the Caribbean :(**  
**Claimer: I own the plot for this story and the characters you do not recognise :)**

**Chapter 1**

Captain Teague and his crew made port in Tortuga late one Autumn evening to look for additional crew members and to stock up on food and rum. They had sailed across the ocean, battleing with other pirates and had finally reached port. Captain Teague was the first to step off the _Troubadour_, closely followed by the rest of the crew as they headed in seperate directions around the village of Tortuga.

The rum-soaked pirates crowding the loud and busy streets hadn't changed. Whores stood in two's and three's on each corner, rubbing themselves upon their victims as the pirate looked at them with lustful eyes. Wooden billboards hung lopsided from the stained bricks of the lively buildings, and windows hung open for the rowdiest of pirates to be thrown from; pools of mud lay waiting underneath for that specific occasion. The occasional fire was started around the towns and the roads, and the general atmosphere of the streets was lively, jolly and each day and night was a cause for celebration.

Teague headed straight for The Faithful Bride with his first mate Buck and as they pushed open the bullet-holed door and stepped into pub, they were greeted with the familiar rum smell, and loud and drunk pirates. Teague crossed the room towards an empty table in the corner whilst Buck went to the bar to order two bottles of rum.

The dark brown eyes of Captain Teague scoured the room, taking in the well-missed sights of his favourite pub in Tortuga, the drink-stained wooden floor, the remnants of a previous fight that broke out not too long ago still remained, and drunkards occasionally collapsing over empty barrels of rum. Teague recognised the majority of the pirates there, although there were a few unfamiliar faces. Two of the bartenders were new and there were generally new, dirty faces dotted here and there around the pub.

It wasn't much longer until Buck came back with the rum, and Teague accepted his bottle with a gracious nod of his head before taking a long swig.

"Cap'n, it seems as though we stayed away from Tortuga for too long." Buck stated, looking around The Faithful Bride. "There are plenty of new faces 'ere."

"Aye," Teague replied. "Plenty of _young_ new faces." He took another swig from his bottle before placing it on the chipped wooden table. "I'm sure some of them would be good enough pirates to join me crew."

"Aye." Buck agreed, gulping down a mouthful of rum. "Where too next then, Cap'n?"

Teague looked to his first mate before replying, "It's looking like we'll be stocking up and then going to find _her_."

"Helping out Jack?"

"Aye." Teague nodded, "I need those four rings if Jackie's goin' to get the _Black_ _Pearl_ back."

Buck took a long swig from his rum bottle, "Aye Cap'n. But Jack can think for 'imself...got an intelligent head on those shoulders of 'is."

Just before Teague could take another swig of his rum, a fight broke out in the middle of the pub. Several men from his crew began throwing fists and smashing bottles causing glass fragments to scatter across the already dirty floorboards, "Oi!" The landlord shouted, "Take it outside!" The fight failed to cease, and as the landlord lost his patience and reached for his double-barrel shotgun, a brunette appeared from under the pile of pirates, closely followed by the slim the body as the girl crawled out from the bottom of the pile. She stood up and dusted herself off before picking up whatever she'd dropped and ran into the dimly lit, rowdy streets outside the pub.

"She's gone!" One of the pirate's pointed towards the swinging door, alerting the others that the girl who had caused the fight had escaped. "After 'er!"

As the group of pirates dispersed from The Faithful Bride, the landlord sighed and placed his weapon back on the shelf before gesturing towards one of the two grotty looking barmaids to go and clean up the mess that had been caused by the rioting pirates. Captain Teague and Buck glanced at each other before finishing their bottles of rum and getting to their feet, dodging the occasional whelp and whore as they made their way out of the pub.

In an alleyway to their left, they heard shouting which was remarkably louder than the rest of the street. Believing it was the rest of the crew from the _Troubadour _they turned their heads towards the noise to see what the commotion was about. Their crew who had caused a scene in The Faithful Bride drew their cutlasses and cornered the brunette who had previously escaped from them. She had her hands up in surrender and she was looking around for a way out. Just as one of the pirates ran for her, she turned quickly to the side and tripped him up - sending him sprawling to the ground - his cutlass flying from his hand. The brunette then kicked the hilt - tossing the blade into the air so that she could catch it and then turned to face the other pirates, meeting another blade with the one she had taken.

"Captain Teague!" One of the pirates called, running towards Teague and Buck, his cutlass still drawn in his hand. "The girl stole Nigel's wallet!"

Teague shrugged and leant casually against the wall, crossing his arms over his chest. He stated, "I'm sure the seven of ye can battle the one of her."

The girl knocked back three of the seven pirates before she was finally disarmed. The cutlass flew from her hand and into the mud a few feet away from her, but just as she was about to be restrained, she grabbed hold of the washing line rope leading from one building to another - littered with dirt ridden clothing - and swung herself upwards - catching the closest pirate too her under his chin with the toe of her boot. She clung onto the loose tiles of the windowsill and pulled herself up onto the roof; a few tiles shifted and fell to the ground beneath her.

"Amazing." Buck stated, "if only the crew could do that." Teague nodded once, his muddy brown eyes following the brunette as she disappeared over the other side of the mossy and cracked building. Taking that as a sign that he could go after her, Buck ran off. Teague kicked himself off from the crumbling wall of The Faithful Bride and casually walked back past the entrance to the pub and into the rows of rundown, brown bricked houses just a little ways down the bustling street. He walked calmly and patiently along the dirt and cobblestone road before stopping at the end of an alleyway obscured by the view of the packed rum-soaked streets, and waited.

It wasn't long until the female thief appeared and as Teague pushed himself off the wall and stood in her path, the girl skidded to a halt infront of him. Her hair was muddy brown and scraped back into a messy bun tied with a blue ribbon, her eyes were as blue as the ocean and her skin was that of a porcelain dolls. She wore a white blouse, black and white vertical striped breaches and a pair of dark brown laced boots. A silver locket hung from her neck and a leather belt was slung around her hips (missing was her cutlass) and on her left forearm was a white strip of gauze.

She stared at Teague wide-eyed as he just stood there. He had a cutlass and a pistol - yet he had failed to draw them. His deep voice broke through the silent, cold air. "I hear ye've taken a wallet from one of me crew?" It was more of a statement than a mere question, yet the brunette felt as though she was meant to answer it so she slowly nodded her head. Teague chuckled quietly, "What's ye name, kid?"

"I'm not a 'kid'." She scowled at him, gulping. "And why would I give you my name when you haven't given me yours?" Her hand rested on the wallet attatched to her belt, trying to obscure it from his view and to show that - if it were her cutlass - she would draw it.

Teague's eyes sparkled menacingly. "Forgive me," He stated. He then heard the rushing footsteps of his crew members, and knew the girl had heard it too as her eyes darted behind her and back again; anxious to get away before she was caught by the rest of the crew. "I couldn't help but notice how well ye handle a sword." He complememted her, "and that ye footwork is quite unusual. Do ye belong to a crew?" He asked, tilting his head to the side to show his interest. The girl shook her head in response and Teague smirked. "Well then, let me introduce myself," He took off his hat and brought both his hands to his chest. "I am Captain Edward Teague."

"Keeper of the Code." The brunette whispered in shock.

"Aye." His smirk widened, "and I'm in need of some able bodied pirates."

The footsteps of Teague's few crew members grew louder before eventually coming to a halt behind the brunette. The girl turned around and came face-to-face with eight silver blades, she gulped - knowing that she wouldn't escape this easily. "You want me to find you some worthy pirates?" She questionned, warily.

Teague shook his head, "I'm offering ye a place aboard the _Troubadour_...on the condition that ye give back that wallet." Without a second thought she tossed the pouch of coins over to the man she had taken it from earlier. Captain Teague smirked again, "Now, what's ye name?"

"Vikki, Captain." The brunette replied.

"Short for Victoria, I imagine?" The girl nodded again. "Buck?" Teague looked into the remaining few members of his crew to find his first mate.

"Aye, Cap'n?"

"Take Victoria back to the _Troubadour_ and show her around."

"Aye, Sir." Buck gestured for Nigel to come with him, and as the red haired man re-attatched his wallet onto his belt and shifted his eyepatch into place again, he left with the first mate and the new crew member.

"The rest of ye will gather the supplies we need, and I will look for..." He looked at the brunettes' retreating back, "Worthy pirates...to join my crew."

As Buck and Nigel led the girl back to the ship, Vikki apologised to Nigel for stealing his wallet and the pirate grunted in response. "I suppose yer only sorry because ye were caught."

Vikki chuckled and tucked a piece of hair behind her ear nervously, "I suppose you'll forgive me now I'm part of the crew?"

Nigel turned to glare at the girl, but upon seeing her young, innocent face he chuckled and asked curiously, "Ye must've been stealing for a reason, Stripes." Vikki frowned at the nickname but nodded to convey he was correct. "Ye have any family 'ere?" She ran her hand behind her ear although there was no hair which needed tucking behind it and shrugged in response. "How old are yer? Ye don't look a day older than eighteen."

"I'm twenty-five." She replied, scowling slightly. "And yes, I steal for a reason. Which is because I have no money, and I need to live off of something."

Nigel nodded, "It's what pirates do, Stripes. Have ye ever been caught before?"

Vikki nodded her head, "I was in Port Royal a few years ago and was caught stealing from one of the gentlemen...I didn't know he was a merchant for the East India Trading Company. Infact, he was the man who ran it."

"Beckett." Buck stated. "He's dead now, ye'll be pleased to know." Vikki nodded her head in response, rubbing her thumb over the gauze on her forearm. "Have ye been on a ship before?" He asked.

Vikki nodded, "My father was a sailor." She replied. "He taught me a lot, and I joined a crew when I was eighteen. I sailed the Caribbean for five years before I was left in Tortuga. Been here since I was twenty-three."

"I couldn't help but notice ye say yer father _was_ a sailor." Nigel stated, running his fingers through his tuft of ginger facial hair.

"I don't know where he is now." Vikki replied. "I have no idea if he's still sailing or if he's dead."

The conversation fell into silence after that, and as they reached the _Troubadour_ and stepped onto the main deck, Nigel and Buck began showing Vikki around. They took her onto the helm where the wooden wheel was painted a glorious gold. The wood of the deck, railings and mast were polished and kept nicely. The first and second mate then pointed out the dark wooden door to the Captain's cabin before taking her below deck to show her around there. They went into the galley first, and then the stock room where a deck of cards was scattered across the wooden table in the centre of the room and several empty bottle racks stood against the starboard wall. Vikki assumed the crew had stopped in Tortuga to stock up on rum. They went down another flight of steps and into the crew's sleeping quarters where hammocks were strung up around the room, ten either side of the walls and two more rows above them, Vikki guessed that about sixty pirates could sleep in these quarters.

"Ye shan't be sleeping in 'ere with the rest of us." Nigel began, "Tis not proper. Although pirates, most of us are gentleman at heart-"

"-What he's trying to say is that there are a few...sleazy members of the crew." Buck interrupted him, getting straight to the point. "A couple are a few years older than ye and one or two are old enough to be ye grandfather!"

Grimacing at their warning, Vikki looked around, "So...where will I sleep?"

Buck smiled, "Do ye like cats?" He asked.

"Cats?" Vikki shrugged, "They're alright. I haven't really been that close to one before."

"The deck below us is where the cat resides. The Cap'n bought it aboard in an attempt to be rid of rats, but it don't do nothin' but sleep and lounge around."

"The Cap'n didn't have the 'art to be rid of it." Nigel added. "There's an 'ammock down there, I'm sure Boots won't mind sharing with yer."

"Boots?" Vikki asked.

"The cat. Nigel named it." Buck rolled his eyes and grumbled something along the lines of 'getting soft'. "Come on, we'll take ye there now." The two pirates left the crews quarters and took the next flight of stairs down, into darkness. Nigel lit the oil lamp at the bottom of the stairs and carried it over to a room in the corner, where he opened the wooden door and placed the lamp on a shelf just inside the room. "Boots is there now." He chuckled.

Vikki stepped into the room and thanked the two pirates for showing her around before bidding them goodnight and closing the door behind them. The first thing Vikki did once she was in the room was check for spiders and snakes - she despised both the creatures and was known to scream upon sighting one. Once the room was in the clear, the brunette looked around her new quarters. There was a three-draw dresser in the corner with a dusty square mirror hanging on the wall just above it and a small wooden bedside table with an un-lit oil lamp sat ontop of it. Instead of a hammock, there was a cot with - suprisingly - clean white sheets. And finally, Boots, a black cat with white feet was sitting on the bed; watching Vikki's movements with a slight twitch of his long and fluffy tail.

The brunette stepped towards the cat and held her hand out in greeting. Boots curiously sniffed her hand before rubbing his head on it gently. Taking the gesture as a sign of friendship, Vikki began to pet his head and, alas, a friendship was formed.

**Hi, I'm new to writing Pirates of the Caribbean fanfiction and this is my first fic!**

**I would appreciate a few reviews, but I will ask for no flames. I already know there's going to be a chance that Vikki is going to be a Mary-Sue :) Also, I know I have Jack's age wrong in this, but I'm going by the films, and to me he doesn't look any older than thirty, so that's what I'm going by.**

**I follow my own plot in this story, and is set after _On Stranger Tides. _I hope you enjoy reading this story as much as I will enjoy writing it :D **

**Also, my notes at the end of each chapter will not be as long as this one! XD**

**Please review :) xx**


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

The cat had slept on her chest that night, so Vikki awoke the next morning with a struggle for breath. Slowly, she opened her eyes and gently pet the cat on his head before she slowly sat up, Boots walked to the bottom of the cot and settled down again at the end, allowing the brunette to swing her legs off the side of the bed and Vikki stretched before getting to her feet.

She dressed in her striped breaches and bound her chest before pulling on her white blouse. She then headed towards the mirror where she re-tied her hair into a bun and just as she was about to leave her cabin, there was a knock at the door.

Vikki opened the door and smiled at Nigel. The red-haired, eye patched pirate was holding a bucket of soapy water with two scrubbing brushes inside. "I'm guessing I'm mopping the deck?" Vikki asked.

Nigel nodded and handed her the bucket. They walked up the stairs together, the boat rocking lightly from the small ocean waves. "Sleep well?" He asked.

Vikki nodded, "Boots slept on me last night, I woke up short of breath."

Nigel chuckled, "That's why he's not in with the crew anymore. Now, after yer done with scrubbing the deck, the Cap'n want's ye to take over the crow's nest and alert him when ye see land." He stopped and turned to face her when they reached the main deck. "Are ye good with a telescope?" Vikki nodded, "Good, ye'll be needin' this." He handed her his own telescope, and as Vikki tucked it under her belt she walked over to where she would begin scrubbing.

She took both scrubbing brushes out of the bucket and turned around, grinning. This was surely going to make cleaning more fun! "Let's practice." Vikki stated, drawing her cutlass. She slipped her feet under the handles of the two scrubbing brushes before pouring a little soapy water onto the deck. Vikki then began to slide around as she began to battle with Nigel. He had already drawn his cutlass and came towards her, sweeping his blade towards the left of Vikki's chest, she parried it easily although she was very focused on where her feet were taking her.

It wasn't long until the deck was almost finished that she knocked the cutlass out of Nigel's hand. She held out a hand towards him and helped him to his feet before she slipped the brushes off the bottom of her boots and walked back towards the almost empty bucket. "We'll have to practice again, Nigel." Vikki smiled at the second mate, "I don't think I've had such fun cleaning the deck before." She dropped the two brushes into the bucket and picked it up by the handle before retreating to the lower level of the ship. Vikki placed the bucket into the cupboard full of other buckets, scrubbing brushes and mops before returning to the freshly cleaned main deck.

Vikki climbed up the rigging towards the crows nest before taking a seat on the small wooden bench which ran around the mast. She detatched the silver telescope from her belt and took a look through it to see that the _Troubadour_ was surrounded by a vast amount of sparkling, sapphire blue ocean, and no land could be seen for miles. Not even the top of a very tall tree was visable. Vikki sighed, she was a long way away from Tortuga now. But in a way she didn't care, she had always been one for adventure and she had longed for it ever since she was mutinied by her old Captain and crew.

She gazed lovingly at the ocean for a few moments, oh how she had missed the Caribbean sea! She raised the telescope to her right eye once again and looked all around the ship. Now there was land that she could see and she remembered that she was suppossed to let the Captain know when she saw any. "Captain," She called down to Teague who was manning the helm. "Land." She pointed in the right direction and watched as Teague held his compass out infront of him.

He then closed the compass and smirked, "Buck!" He called, "Make ready the boats, we'll be going ashore soon." He turned the golden wheel of the ship so that it was facing the land, and the _Troubadour_ gradually sailed closer and closer towards it. Vikki couldn't help but wonder why they were going there. There was a shallow river between the two islands which was too narrow and too shallow for the _Troubadour_ to pass through.

The brunette grabbed hold of the rope and swung down from the crows nest, her feet hitting the deck with a 'thud' as she landed. Vikki made her way towards Buck who was trying to lower one of the longboats into the sea. She held the other end of the rope and helped ease the boat into the water. Teague joined the crew on the main deck, shouting his orders. "All men to the boats!" He ordered. "We're going ashore." As another two boats were lowered into the water, Vikki hopped in with Buck, Nigel and another couple of crew members, one of which couldn't help himself but gawk at the brunette. He didn't look much older than Vikki herself, and the brunette thought this to be one of the sleazy pirates Buck and Nigel had warned her about, therefore, she stayed away from him as much as she could.

The three boats were rowed towards the river which ran through the two islands, Teague sat in the boat at the front keeping a watchful eye out.

Vikki looked around her surroundings, the feeling of eyes on her back worried her and made her slightly uncomfortable.

The boats slowly made their way up the swampy river, and the dim light of the sun hardly lit their path. The crew lit some lanterns to help guide them along the darkening river and Vikki could see people watching them from the river's edge, slightly obscured by bushes and shrubbery.

"Buck." She whispered, "where are we going?"

The first mate turned to face the brunette and smirked, "to see _her_." He replied. "Tia Dalma is a kind of sourceress. One who can predict things and tell us old tales of the sea."

"What are we doing here?" Vikki asked.

Buck looked to Teague, "The Captain heard of a tale of four sacred rings and only _she_ knows where they lie." The crew of the _Troubadour_ rowed around a corner, and infront of them was decking with a ladder leading up to a tree where a wooden hut sat. The glowing amber light from the windows set a spooky atmosphere around the swamp and Vikki shivered involuntarily. The longboats were moored to the small dock outside the hut and the Captain left his boat, eight of the other ten crew members - including Vikki - followed him up the stairs towards the hut and Teague politely knocked on the door.

"Come in, Captain Teague." A woman's voice called from inside. Vikki thought her voice to be superstitious and all knowing, and she took a deep breath before following Buck inside the hut.

The hut was a lot bigger on the inside than she had expected. Jars of eyeballs, frogs, bats and other various creatures and strange items were hanging from the ceiling and an Aboriginal patterned, violet and mauve rug lay regally across the wooden floorboards. There were many wooden shelves lining the walls, stacked with various books and other mythical looking items. To the right of the room was an archway with a curtain of different shells and coloured glass beads, and in the centre of the room was a desk, littered with many items and artifacts and a small cream bowl of crab and lobster claws. Sat behind the desk was a dark skinned woman with black dreadlocks, and black teeth grinned at Teague from her seat behind her old wooden table.

"Captain Teague." Her thick Jamaican accent echoed around the hut, and Vikki felt warmed by the woman's aura and presence. "Finally sailed out of Shipwreck Cove, did we? Ah, I know why ye here." She stood up, her long mahogany dress was adorned with beads, charms and small objects. This was definately the sourceress Buck had told Vikki about.

Teague walked towards Tia Dalma, a grin etched onto his face, "I heard of the four sacred rings. And I'm going after them. I know ye know where they are." He stated, "and I have payment for ye to tell me." He motioned for Nigel to come forwards, and the eye-patched pirate handed the Captain a jar of dark brown shells and small, exquisite looking items of jewels and beads.

Tia placed her hands over Teague's and pushed the jar back towards him, "I know ye don't want these rings for yourself, Teague." She stated. "So I do this out of me kind heart." The woman glanced around the room, her dark eyes locking on the only other female. Her smiled dropped slightly and she cocked her head to the side, "ye have a great destiny Victoria." Tia almost whispered, her eyes locked on the brunette's figure. "Ye find the rings, ye meet strange fates. But only ye'self stand in the way of what ye want." Vikki frowned and tore her eyes away from the woman, her insides suddenly chilled. Tia Dalma then turned her gaze to look back at the Captain, "Aye, the four sacred rings." She continued on as if something humoured her. "One, lies in a place pirates have feared to go since Lord Cutler Beckett almost ruled the Caribbean sea. The second, lies on a cannibalistic island, the tribes people worship it beside their cheif. The third, lies in a cave of gold where the once cursed chest of Cortez looks up at the unique jewel. The fourth and final ring, is guarded by man eating beauties of the ocean." Tia Dalma finished her tale, and the hut was silent for a long while.

The _Troubadour_ crew looked to Teague who was thinking intently about the tale he had been told.

"The first." He stated, "Beckett first landed in Port Royal, the majority of the town was hung - pirates still avoid that port today. The first ring must be there."

"What of the second?" Buck inquired, scribbling something down on a piece of parchment.

"That's obviously on the island of the Pelegostos." Teague stated, "the third..." He pondered. "Must be at the Isla de Muerta. That's where the chest of Cortez still remains today, and being unique it must be different than the first two...but the fourth ring?" He questionned, looking to Tia with clouded eyes.

"Man eating beauties of the ocean." Vikki stated. Teague, Buck, Tia and the rest of the crew looked to the brunette, who tucked a lock of hair behind her ear nervously. "It's talking about mermaids."

"Aye," Tia smiled knowingly at Victoria, slowly nodding her head. "Mermaids. The fourth is in the most difficult place to find, it'd take all of ye to trespass into the realm of the mermaids. Many lives have been lost there, which is why no one has ever retrieved all four rings."

Teague nodded his head both in understanding and determination, "We'll get back to the ship and make haste to Port Royal." He began to walk towards the door, but not before Tia stopped him.

"If I may." Tia rose to her feet, "I'd like to give ye something."

Vikki stared down at the dress and corset bundle in her hands with a disgusted look on her face. Although beautiful with it's creamy pastel blue colour and full skirt, Vikki hadn't worn a dress for many years, and doubted she would be able to wear a corset like she used to do when she had been younger.

"Ye be needing that for Port Royal." Nigel stated from beside her. "Although Beckett's dead, they still have strict pirate laws in that port." Vikki nodded in understanding, although she was still not at all pleased with the idea of wearing a dress and corset!

"Why do _I_ have to get the rings though?" She asked.

Nigel shrugged, "Ye heard what Tia Dalma said." He began, "'Ye find the rings, ye meet strange fates. But only ye'self stand in the way of what ye want.' In other words, Stripes, she predicts yer to be the one to find and get the rings."

"Do you think anyone else will be after them?"

Nigel shrugged, "'Tis a possibility. Teague never told me why he wanted them - but like he said - we better make haste."

The brunette was silent for the remainder of the journey back to the _Troubadour_, and she pondered about what Tia Dalma had said to her. '_How did she know my name?_' She thought. '_What destiny do I hold?_' The boats soon arrived back to the ship, and as the crew climbed aboard. Vikki stared down at the dress before taking it below deck towards her cabin and - once she had done that - she made her way back onto the main deck and climbed into the crows nest, taking out the silver telescope attatched to her belt and observing their surroundings whilst Teague and Buck planned the heading from inside the Captain's quarters and Nigel manned the helm.

Once the heading had been decided and the crew was informed that they would be going straight to Port Royal, there was much discussion about how they would disguise the ship. Vikki was told that she would be the one to climb up the mast to change the flag, but the brunette was convinced that they had been joking. Teague stepped up to the helm, and Vikki felt the ship turning towards their destination as the wind had suddenly changed it's course.

"We'll be mooring in Port Royal in two weeks." A voice stated from behind Vikki. Startled, she turned to the voice. The pirate looked young and was quite handsome. His corn blonde hair was tied back in a ponytail and his eyes were sage green. His skin was tanned from many years in the sun and Vikki momentarily swooned. "I didn't mean to startle yer." He chuckled, taking a seat on the bench beside the brunette. He held out his hand, "I'm Sam." He stated, flashing her a charming smile.

Vikki took his large, rough hand with her small, delicate one, "Vikki - but Nigel and Buck call me Stripes."

"I can see why." He chuckled, his eyes on her breaches. "How long have ye been at sea?"

"Since I was a child." She replied, "What about you?"

"I grew up on a ship with my parents." Sam leant back against the mast, crossing his arms over his chest as he looked out to the vast blue ocean. "_The Red Guardian_," He started. "I eventually left the ship at Tortuga and was crewed by Teague a few years ago." He looked to Vikki and grinned. The brunette felt very warming towards Sam, and hoped that he did have good intentions towards her - she felt that he did. "So what brings ye aboard the Troubadour?" He began again.

Vikki looked up at him, a small blush crossing her features. "Oh, I stole Nigel's wallet." She tucked a lock of brown hair behind her ear nervously.

Sam grinned again, "Yer the thief the crew were talking about last night." Vikki blushed again, Sam chuckled; his eyes dancing with amusement. "So," He began again. "Have ye ever been to Port Royal before?"

Vikki nodded her head slightly, "Only once when I was younger. My father took me there when we crossed from England - but we didn't stay for very long."

"Aye," Sam replied. "It's changed now. Anyone so much as looks like a pirate will be hung at the gallows." He turned to look at the brunette. "Which is why Tia Dalma gave yer that dress to wear."

Again, Vikki tucked a lock of hair behind her ear nervously, "I thought as much." She replied, "For Port Royal. I haven't worn a dress for a very long time."

Sam chuckled, "Yer'll have to get used to wearing a corset then." Vikki blushed, she did not want to talk to him about undergarments. Infact, she did not want to talk to _anyone_ about undergarments at all!

"Sam!" A voice called from below deck, "Come down, we're starting a game of poker!"

The blonde ran a hand through his tousled hair, "I better go." He stood up and started to climb down the rigging. "Ye wanna join?" He asked.

Vikki shook her head, "No thanks, I don't know how to play."

Sam smirked, his eyes sparkling menacingly, "Maybe I can teach ye sometime? Anyway, I'll see you around, Stripes." He climbed the rest of the way down the rigging and jumped onto the deck, greeting a few of his fellow crew mates before disappearing below deck. Vikki leant back against the mast, sighing deeply. Never had she spoken to such a good-looking man in all her life, she was a little flustered and blown away. Her heart pounded in her chest, was she crushing on him? She shook her head, forbidding herself to get any feelings for anyone. She wanted to find her father before getting attatched to anyone, more than all the gold and diamonds in the world!

**Thank you to everyone who has reviewed and alerted this story :)**

**Please review! xx**


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter Three**

Vikki had been aboard the _Troubadour_ for a whole week now. More than once she had put the corset on in her cabin and walked around her cabin to get used to it. But she had never had the courage to go onto the main deck wearing it! She gently pet Boots on his head as she folded the corset away in her chest of drawers and rebound her chest. She pulled her shirt on and tucked it into her striped breaches before buckling her belt and attaching her cutlass and telescope to her person. She shrugged on a black jacket before tying her hair into a bun with blue ribbon as she left the confinements of her cabin.

Up on deck, she slid her boots into the scrubbing brushes and began to clean the deck.

"An interesting way to practice yer footwork." Teague's voice sounded from above her. She skidded to a stop and threw her arms out for balance; alarmed by his sudden deep voice. The Captain stared down at her feet with a look of both interest and amusement from his position at the helm, and Vikki tucked a lock of hair behind her ear nervously.

Vikki swallowed her nerves, "Err...thank you Captain."

Teague chuckled and looked out towards the ocean, "Tell me." He started, "Why were ye mutinied in Tortuga?"

Vikki resumed sliding around the deck, the rest of the crew hadn't appeared above deck yet as they were still asleep so she needn't worry about barrelling into anyone. "A new crew member, Captain." She began. "Was very superstitous and refused to board the ship because I was on there."

"That superstition is nonsense." Teague replied, his hands holding the wheel still so that the ship didn't stray away from it's heading. "Every one of me crew will say the same thing." He looked down at her again, watching her skim around the deck curiously. "Why did yer old Captain take the man aboard?"

"It was his son." She replied, stopping to look at the deck to see if she had missed any dirt. "I was just grateful they dropped me off at Tortuga rather than on an island in the middle of the ocean."

"Aye," Teague replied. "What would ye have done if ye were?"

Vikki dropped the two scrubbing brushes into the bucket and stood up to look at the Captain, "I don't know, Captain." She replied honestly. "You're not preparing me for one are you?"

Teague chuckled, "No. I don't tend to mutiny any of my crew unless they've done anything insulting to another member of my crew or meself. So yer safe."

Vikki sighed with relief. "Thank you, Captain."

Teague nodded silently, his head drawn up towards the crows nest. "Ye can man the crows nest again today Victoria." He stated, returning his eyes towards the sea.

"Aye, Captain."

"Would ye wake the crew?"

It was more of a statement than a question, and judging by the position of the sun in the sky Vikki knew the crew had overslept. "Aye, Captain." She replied, picking up the bucket of dirty water and heading below deck. She bumped into Nigel on the way downstairs and greeted him with a smile, "I've just come to wake the crew." She stated to him.

Nigel chuckled, "I'll do that for ye, Stripes." He walked with her back down the stairs and left her at the cupboard of buckets, scrubbing brushes and mops and once they were put away and the water disposed of, the brunette made her way back onto the main deck and up into the crows nest - relieving a very tired looking pirate from his nightly duties.

The brunette looked up at the sky and upon noticing a dark grey cloud looming overhead she sighed and pulled her jacket tighter around her shoulders. "It's going to be a long day." She mumbled to herself.

The weather had taken a turn for the worse, the rain poured down and the waves crashing against the side of the _Troubadour_ roughly rocked the ship. Vikki was told to stay in the crows nest, despite the weather - Teague wanted her to keep an eye out for any land. Although the crows nest was dangerous in itself, it was more dangerous for the girl to be on the main deck where a wild wave could wash her overboard.

The brunette wiped rain water from her eyes and looked around the dark sea with the telescope. She did a double take upon noticing something dark in the water. She gasped upon realising what it was. As the dark head of hair began to be tormented by the powerful waves, Vikki knew she had to do something if this person was still alive - and fast.

"Captain!" Vikki shouted over the roar of the wind and waves, gaining the attention of Teague and the rest of the crew, "Lower the anchor!" She grabbed hold of the rope and swung herself down from the crows nest before running towards the railing. She took off her belt and dropped it into a puddle on the decking before pulling off her boots. Ignoring the shouts from her fellow crew members, Vikki took a deep breath as she jumped over the railing and dived into the angry ocean.

Nigel and Buck ran to the railing where the brunette had been standing just moments before, and looked down into the dark depths of the ocean. "Has she gone mad?" Nigel shouted over the raging weather.

"Stripes!" Buck called, cupping his hands over his mouth so that his voice would travel over the roar of the wind. A brunette head burst through the water as Vikki gasped for air and began to swim away from the ship. "Captain!" Buck made his way up to the helm and towards Teague who had just barked out an order for someone to lower the anchor. "The storm's gotten too 'er."

"No." Teague stated, searching the water for the brunette. "No one jumps ship for no reason." A few more crew members gathered at the railing, their eyes scouring the huge waves for their only female crew member.

Vikki swam furthur and furthur away from the _Troubadour_, struggling against the waves which crashed over her numerous times. She stopped and turned around in the water, looking for whatever had caught her eye. She then spotted a piece of driftwood on a wave to the left of her, and she swam closer towards it before gripping onto the wood like it was her lifesaver. She took a deep gasp of air and began shaking the young boys shoulder. He didn't awaken. The boy had short black hair and dark tanned skin and he couldn't have been older than eight years old. Vikki checked for a pulse on the boy - and upon finding one - she placed one of her hands on the boys back and placed her other one on the driftwood as she swam them both back towards the _Troubadour_. The waves were stronger than she had anticipated, and as the piece of wood sunk below the surface of the water, Vikki wrapped her left arm around the boys waist, making sure his head was above the ocean before paddling them closer towards the ship.

She had swam furthur than she thought she had, and the muscles in her arms and legs were aching so much they burned. Vikki was exhausted and to make matters worse, the young boy was getting heavier by the minute and Vikki was only halfway back to the ship!

The brunette pushed on, determined to save the boy and herself. Once she was close enough she grabbed hold of the rigging with her swimming hand and gasped for more air just as another wave crashed over her - almost causing her to lose her grip on the rigging and the young boy. Buck appeared at the top by the railing and held his arms out to take the boy from her. Vikki struggled with the boys weight, but managed to lift him high enough for Buck to grasp the collar of his shirt, and as the boy was hauled onto the decking of the ship, Vikki felt someone grasp onto her forearm and was thankfully dragged onto the safety of the deck by Nigel. She lay on the wood of the deck, coughing and spluttering, her muscles aching painfully. Someone's hands went under her armpits and she was hoisted onto her feet, her legs threatened to buckle under her and she held onto Sam for support.

"He's alive!" Vikki heard someone shout out.

"Take him and Victoria below deck!" Teague yelled over the harsh cry of the wind.

The brunette squinted through the fierce rain as Sam helped her to safely cross the deck towards the hatch. Nigel carried the boy with him and as they were safe from the dangerous storm, Nigel began to scold the brunette. "Do ye not value yer life?" He yelled at her.

"Mr Roberts...she just saved that kid." Sam stated, helping support the girl as they went down another flight of stairs.

"By risking 'er own!" The eye-patched man replied, "Not one man from our crew has ever jumped into the ocean during a storm before! Those that did, ne'er returned!" He kicked open the door to the doctor's cabin and rushed inside to lay the boy in one of the four hammocks. Sam lifted Victoria onto another and removed her wet hair from her pale face.

Smith - the doctor - checked Vikki's pulse and breathing first, "she's fine. I'll keep watch on her after I've attended to the boy." He then crossed the room towards the young boy and checked his pulse and breathing. "He's going to need a lot of attention. His breathing is short and his pulse is faint."

"He must'a swallowed a lot o' water," Nigel stated. "We don'o how long he's been at sea!"

The doctor nodded, "Judgeing by how cold his skin is and how much his stomach has swelled due to the water, I'd say about a day or two." He turned to Sam. "Get me some blankets, and then you can go." As Smith attended to the young boy Victoria gradually drifted off to sleep.

She awoke shivering with cold. It was dark outside the windows of the doctors cabin, and the room was dimly lit with three candles. The brunette slowly sat up and pushed the dull, patchwork blanket off herself before swinging her legs over the side of the hammock. As she stood up, she could see the hammock which had held the young boy no more than a couple of hours ago, was now empty. Vikki's heart began to pound and she frantically looked around the room for Smith. There was just one shelf stacked with a few books and a wooden cabinet standing to the left of it; crammed with various medical supplies and numerous rolls of gauze.

"The boy's fine." Came a voice from behind her. Vikki turned to see Smith behind a desk, slowly sipping a bottle of rum. "I told him he could go. Buck took him to see the Captain."

Vikki nodded appreciatively, "Did the boy have a name?" She asked.

"Thomas." Smith replied, "You should go back to your cabin, Stripes. You need more rest, and you need to stay warm."

"Aye." Vikki nodded and turned for the door, "Thank you, Smith. For watching over me."

"Just be careful out there."

Vikki closed the door to Smith's cabin behind her and stopped outside the door. There was no way she was going back to her cabin. Not until she'd seen Thomas with her own eyes and was positive that he was fine. The brunette jogged up the stairs towards the main deck and closed the hatch behind her. The storm had seized, and although it was still dark, the ocean was calm and still, the wind was no more than a light breeze; soft and gentle.

The Captain's cabin door opened and out stepped Teague, Buck and the young boy. "Stripes," Buck started. Vikki made her way towards the three and smiled gently at the young boy. "This 'ere is Thomas, he's goin' to be takin' over yer duty of scrubbin' the deck." Buck then turned to face the boy, "This is Stipes, or Vikki. She's the one who saved ye." The young boy ran fowards and wrapped his arms around the brunettes waist, causing the girl to stumble back slightly.

"He will be under yer care." Teague stated.

"Aye, Captain." Vikki nodded towards the Captain thankfully.

"Buck," Teague then turned to his first mate. "Make sure there's a hammock put up for the boy in the crews quarters. Tom - go with Buck, he'll show ye around. Victoria please attend to the crows nest." The Captain then climbed the stairs to the helm to attend to his duty as Captain. "We'll be mooring in Port Royal within a few days."

As Thomas pulled away from the brunette, he looked up and beamed at her, "Thank you." He said. The young boy then turned around and left with Buck to go below deck as Vikki returned his smile and began to climb up the rigging of the mast towards the crows nest, relieved that the boy was alive and well.

**Guess who just got a job working at 'Pinewood Studios'? Yeah, that's right - me! Woop, woop!**

**The quest for the first sacred ring shall be the next chapter.**

**Please review :) I would like a few reviews before I next update... as they may inspire and encourage me update quicker :P xx**


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4**

Three days later, Vikki found herself pulling on and tightening the corset. She kept her striped breaches on underneath the light blue dress and then she slipped on a pair of flat shoes. She untied her hair from the blue ribbon, and let her hair fall down just past her shoulders in unkempt waves. She quickly ran a comb through her hair, pulling out the knots and took a deep breath (which she found very hard to do) before plucking up the courage to leave her cabin and face the crew. As she climbed the stairs, she smoothed out the creases in her dress.

When she finally reached the main deck, she gathered unwanted attention from her fellow crew mates, and a few whistles aswell. She blushed lightly and tucked a lock of hair behind her ear as she stepped beside Teague, watching as Buck and Nigel lowered the longboat into the water. Port Royal could be seen from where the ship had made anchor and Vikki knew that Teague would not put any of his crew at risk by going closer. She was glad that the rumor about her climbing up the mast to change the flag was that - just a rumor!

Vikki climbed down the ladder and huffed as she got into the longboat, "you need more women to join your crew, Captain." Teague chuckled in response. The brunette hated the idea of wearing the dress - especially the corset. But it was fairly humerous for the crew to watch her try and act like an upper class woman - she didn't exactly have the right...mannerisms for the job.

"But would they be as trusted as ye to do it?" Teague replied, chuckling as Nigel began to row Vikki towards the shore.

They hadn't even gotten halfway before the brunette had to snap out her fan and air her face due to the tightness of the corset and the shortness of breath (which she only had herself to blame for).

Once she reached the port, Vikki stepped out of the boat and onto the beach. "Where do you propose I look first?" She asked Nigel.

The ginger pirate shrugged, "Not sure." He replied. "Tia Dalma said you were to find the rings...perhaps if ye wander aimlessly yer'll lead yourself there?"

Vikki sighed and began to fan her face again, "Nigel - I don't think I'm going to last five minutes in this corset, let alone however long it takes for me to 'wander aimlessly'." She turned to face the town as Nigel pushed the boat back into the water.

"Be careful, Stripes." He stated. "I'll keep an eye out for ye, when I see ye I'll come rowing over. Wait a second-" He reached into his pocket and pulled out a small vial. "-Incase ye get into a scrape. Here's a sleeping draught."

Vikki smiled at him as she took the vial, "Thank you Nigel." She then headed into the town.

The white painted, brown beamed buildings towered over the brunette, and the cobblestone road was much nicer than the one in Tortuga. The general atmosphere was better looking than the port she had lived in for the past few years, but then again Vikki expected all ports to be. She noted how the air didn't smell like a mixture of rum, vomit and old sex, but of...fine cuisine and baking. There were no whores on the corners of every street, and Vikki smiled sweetly everytime a gentleman walked past and they tipped their hats' politely. Women looked at Vikki with suspicious eyes, which was most likely because of her dress as it was very different to the ones they were wearing, not only in colour but in style. Vikki didn't pay any attention to it, she would only be in Port Royal until the ring was found, and she was hopeing it wouldn't take longer than the one night.

Vikki stopped in her tracks when a large man walked past. Something in her mind was telling her to follow him. The brunette frowned, and slowly turned on her heel. Where did the tingles come from all of a sudden? Vikki's eyes ran down the man's back - she did not want to get on the wrong side of him. He was huge, he probably carried more weight on one leg than Vikki carried in her whole body.

Something shone on his hand, and Vikki gasped upon seeing a gold ring. She _knew_ this was the first sacred ring. She didn't know how she knew; she just knew.

She started to follow him through the town, past a brothel where only a few whores stood just outside the building. The man turned around to look at the building, and Vikki paused in her step and pretended to look around so that he didn't expect her to be following him. As he resumed walking again, Vikki did also and she then passed a Blacksmiths, where the smell of burning coal and hot metal filled the air.

Vikki had to stop for breath a few times, and when she did, she had the awful niggling feeling that someone knew she was following the man. And that person was following the man aswell. As Vikki began to walk again, she patted her hip to ensure she hadn't forgotten to bring her dagger. When she looked up again, the man had disappeared. Gasping, she ran fowards to where she last saw him. But then from a dark alleyway, someone grasped her upper arm and pulled her along the path - their hand clamped over her mouth to stop her from screaming. Their breathing was ragged, and their footsteps heavy. Vikki was dragged a few feet until the man stopped walking. He kicked open a wooden door before releasing her once they were inside. He shut the door behind him and turned on the oil lamp beside the door.

The warehouse was lit dimly now, and Vikki could just about see the man. He was the one she believed to have the ring. His head was round, bald and red with anger and glistening with sweat.

"You've been following me." He growled, his arms were thick and meaty, almost bursting his brown jacket at the seams. His mouth pulled up into a devilish smirk, his teeth - not all there - were black; rotten. "Since the brothel." He chuckled darkly, "Is there something I can help you with?"

Vikki's eyes widened. He thought she was a whore! She cleared her throat and eyed the ring on his finger. "I..." She started, "I was intriuiged by your ring." She swallowed the lump in her throat and the look on his face gave her the impression that honesty was _not_ the best option.

The man chuckled, "Whore's." He stated, "Always obsessed with jewellery." He pulled the ring off his finger with a rough yank and held it between his fat forefinger and thumb, "This my dear." He began. "Is one of the four most sacred of rings. If all four rings are given to the sourceress of the sea, it's said that she can return a ship that had been bottled by Blackbeard himself." Vikki gaped at it. "It's worth a fortune." He eyed her up and down, "But I'm willing to..." He smirked, "Make a deal."

Vikki grimaced as he licked his lips. She eyed a bottle of liquid on a wooden table in the corner, she began to speak as she made her way over to it, cursing herself for speaking with such a flirtacious tone. She almost gagged, "And what kind of..._deal_, would you be willing to make?" She slipped the vial out from inbetween her breasts before slowly uncorking it and pouring the contents into the bottle. She dropped the empty vial onto the floor and stepped on it before she turned around, the bottle of rum smelling liquid in her hands. "Rum?" She asked, handing the bottle out towards him. His sausage fingers grasped onto the base and snatched it from her roughly.

"Deal?" He chuckled as he uncorked the rum and took a long swig. "You look a virgin. How about _that_ for a deal?"

Vikki's body went rigid, and she had the urge to slap him. She could slap him right now, snatch the ring from him and run, surely he couldn't outrun her with his unhealthy physique? She swallowed down her anger and embarrassment and faked a flirty smile, watching as he unclasped his thick gold neck chain and slipped the ring onto the chain. He then tied the chain around his neck again. "Surely we could...negotiate...something different?" She asked a little uneasily.

The fat man chuckled again, this time he sounded quite drunk. He placed the bottle of rum onto the wooden table beside him and turned to face her. "And what would you propose?" He asked.

Vikki was no good at talking herself out of things. Instead she shrugged and involuntarily took a step backwards. Her eyes darted towards the bottle of rum when she heard it knock against the table. The liquid inside was moving violently inside the bottle. The man turned to look at it in confusion aswell, but shrugged it off as he picked it up and downed the last drop. He wiped his mouth and threw the glass at the wall, smashing it into fragments of glass which scattered across the dusty ground.

"If you want the ring, you're going to have to work for it, virgin." He slurred. "Think of it as your payment." He surged towards her with a speed Vikki didn't expect the man to have, he crashed into the table beside him and knocked the oil lamp onto the floor; smashing that and dimming the light in the warehouse. The man passed out onto the dusty, dry ground before he could move any futhur towards Vikki.

The brunette sighed in relief, and knealt down beside the sleeping body and felt around for the thick gold chain around his neck, but to her dismay she found someone's hand. Her head snapped up, and she saw the faint outline of someone else.

"Oi!" It was a man, definately a man, his voice was charming and rugged, and Vikki forced herself not to swoon at it. "What do you think you're doing? This is mine!"

"I drugged him and I was here first, it's mine!" Vikki snapped. She was practically dragged too her feet as the man got to his own, but she kept a firm hold on the chain with the ring.

It was silent for a moment before he eventually spoke. "You drugged him?" Vikki nodded her head. "But _I_ drugged him..." They both looked down at the man laying motionless on the ground, failing to show any sign of breathing. "So, perhaps we've killed him. But that doesn't matter," Vikki could smell rum coming off of the man as he spoke. "What really matters is who's going to get out of here with the ring."

Vikki tugged the chain towards her and growled, "I was here first." She knew this man was a pirate. His hands were sailor hands, and judging by the fact he was after the same thing as she was (and using the same method as her to get it) he was definitely a pirate.

Once again she forced herself not to swoon.

The chain was tugged back by the man, and Vikki stumbled slightly, "Keep telling yourself that, love."

Vikki thought for a second before kicking the man in the gut and snatching the chain from his hand, she then turned and ran towards the wooden scaffolding fixed against the wall on the opposite side of the door. Vikki started to climb, but a tug on the hem of her dress made her lose her grip on the bar and she fell. Preparing herself for the impact on the hard floor, she did not expect the pirate to have such gentlemanly curteosy as to catch her. She dropped the chain but before she could snatch it up again, the man unceremoniously dropped her onto the ground and picked the chain up from the floor and began to climb.

Victoria climbed after him and swung herself onto the walkway. She lifted her dress and unsheathed the dagger attached to her thigh before pointing it at the man's face as he reached the end of his climb. Vikki couldn't see his features due to the dim lighting of the warehouse, but she saw his lips curve into a smirk. Vikki grabbed hold of the chain in his hand and pulled it towards herself and the man reluctantly let it go. The brunette took a few steps backwards before turning around and running along the wooden board. She heard him hop over the railing and run after her and she stopped once she heard him cock a pistol.

"Love, I don't want to shoot you. So hand over the ring."

Vikki looked around the scaffolding for a quick exit, and upon spotting a rope she smirked and turned around to face him. She held the chain towards him, and as he began to swagger towards her Vikki grabbed hold of the rope and swung onto a lower level of the scaffolding, she heard the man curse - but Vikki didn't wait around for him. She took off running along the wooden plank but stopped suddenly at the end, her eyes widening at the drop below her down into a dark hole. She waved her arms around to stop herself from toppling over the edge. She felt an arm wrap around her waist and she was picked up and thrown over the man's shoulder. She shoved the chain and the ring down her bodice.

Vikki thumped the pirate on the back, "Put me down!" She demanded.

"Perhaps I'll oblige if you ask nicely." He stated in response.

"Put me down, now!"

"That's not nicely!"

Vikki eyed the rope she had swung on earlier and stopped thumping him so that she could grab it. The pirate lost his grip, and Vikki slipped off his shoulder. The pirate turned and saw her climb up the rope and he cursed again before climbing up the scaffolding after her. Her dress got caught so she turned quickly and cut it with her dagger before running off again, sheathing it so that she could use both her hands if she needed to climb again.

A weight then hit her square in the back and she fell hard onto the wooden boards. She tried to get up but then the pirate's hands were pushing her down. She struggled against him, but was much weaker than he was.

"Love, stop struggling!" Vikki rolled onto her back and tried to push him away from her. To get her to stop wriggling, the man sat on her stomach and took both her wrists in his hands. Once she stopped struggling, her face was cast in light and Vikki scowled up at the man whose face was still in dim lighting. She gasped as he shoved his hand down her bodice to retrieve the ring and she tore both her hands from his grip to slap him.

She caught his cheek with a resounding slap. His head was thrown to the side, "I don't think I deserved that." He stated, before eyeing where his hand was. "Oh, perhaps I did." He added as an afterthought as he retrieved the ring and chain out from her bodice. Vikki then reached for her dagger in the sheath on her thigh. "Looking for this?" The man smirked and held up her silver blade, and Vikki stared at it open-mouthed. The man jumped to his feet and pulled Vikki up with him. "I'll tell you what, love." He began, "Seeing as you so desperately want this ring, I shall give you the chain so that you may show your Captain, Lord, Father, whatever, that you did infact retrieve the ring, but just so happened to be wooed by a pirate and it was stolen from your grasp, savvy?" He dropped the chain into her bodice and smirked.

"No." Vikki crossed her arms infront of her and scowled, "Why don't _you_ go and tell _your_ Captain, that you almost retrieved the ring, but it was stolen by a pirate who threatened you with a pistol?" She reached inbetween her breasts with one hand to pull out the chain and hold it towards him.

The man frowned, but didn't take the chain, "You don't have a pistol." He stated. Vikki raised the man's weapon to his head and cocked it. "Alright, perhaps you do." He stated, slightly warily, "but _I_ am the Captain of my ship, so who would I tell that story too?"

Vikki cocked her head to the side, "I'm sure you'd understand." She pulled the trigger but gasped when no shot came out. She pulled the trigger three more times before looking at the weapon in shock.

"Oh." The man frowned and took the pistol from her grip to shake it, "Wet powder." He turned around to face the brunette woman again to find that she'd run over to the dead body, and drawn the cutlass before making her way back towards him, eyeing the man's own sheath on the belt.

The man chuckled and took a step forwards so they were only inches apart, "Do you think this wise, love?" He went to reach for his own cutlass but looked down at his empty sheath in shock, looking up at the brunette woman, he scowled upon seeing it in her posession. He then turned and ran, flailing his arms about in the air as he did so in an attempt to make himself run faster, the ring now slipped onto his already bejewelled finger.

Vikki ran after him, ripping off the side of her dress so that she could run faster. She discarded the material onto the floor and climbed the scaffolding way before the other pirate did. She stood infront of him, and the pirate gaped when he reached the top. He smirked and hopped over the railings of the scaffolding, taking a step towards her. "How will I get you out of my way?" He pondered aloud.

"By giving me the ring." Vikki stated, stepping back when he stepped fowards, the tip of both cutlasses pointed towards his chest.

The man stopped moving and smirked, he backhanded the sides of both blades and knocked them out of Vikki's hands. The brunette gaped at them, never before had that happened! "Now you are weaponless." He started, "Please move." Vikki stepped towards the pirate, a scowl on her features.

"No." She crossed her arms over her chest and watched him a little uneasily as his smirk spread into a grin. He reached forwards and gently tugged on her hair to pull her towards him. His mouth was then on hers.

Vikki was too shocked to move, his hands brushed her hair behind her ear and his mouth moved along her jawline, his tounge gently caressing her earlobe, his other arm snaking around her waist to pull her body flush with his own. Vikki's breathing deepened and she closed her eyes blissfully. But in the blink of an eye his touch had gone, her eyes snapped open and she saw him disappear around the corner.

Before she lost sight of him, Vikki ran after him and upon seeing a small brown box swinging from his belt she grasped it in her hand and tugged it free from his person.

"Goodbye, love!" The pirate called as he grabbed hold of a rope and swung out of the window of the warehouse. Vikki watched the retreating figure jog away into the darkness, his dark brown dreadlocks swaying behind him as he swaggered away. Vikki glared at his back before turning away from the window to head back to the docks where Nigel would be waiting for her to return, tossing the box into the air and catching it in her hand again, she huffed.

_'Bloody pirate.'_

**Okay, so I hope everyone liked this chapter :) I would appreciate a few reviews as a thank you for updating consistently and so I know what you all think ;) I have pre-written 20 chapters for this story, so all I need is motivation from you lovely readers xx  
**


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5**

Vikki stepped back onto the deck, accepting the offered hand from Sam for assistance. She quickly brushed her long hair behind her ear and looked up to see that the entire crew were looking at her expectantly.

"Did ye get it?" Captain Teague asked, stepping towards her. He eyed her striped breaches, wondering what could have happened for her to be missing the skirt of her dress.

Vikki shook her head sadly and looked down before reaching into her bodice to pull out the broken gold chain. Teague held his hand out, and as the brunette dropped it into his hand he turned his palm to let it fall to the wooden deck in disappointment. She was supposed to retrieve a magnificent gold ring encrusted with a big black gem, set in a ring of emeralds...the chain was what it must've been suspended from.

"There was someone else after it aswell." Vikki cleared her throat. The Captain looked at the brunette and frowned, gesturing for her to continue. "Another pirate..." She dazed off, "it was dark and I didn't see him but..." She sighed dreamily, "He had a charming voice." As the crew began to whisper amongst themselves, Vikki went scarlet upon realising what she had said. Teague cleared his throat impatiently. "Anyway, he snatched the ring from the chain and ran off with it...but not before I took this from him." From her belt, she unclasped a small, square wooden box attatched to a piece of string, and tossed it to the Captain. Teague opened the box with a frown, but his expression soon changed to one of humour and he began to chuckle.

"He'll be back for this, I'm sure." Teague attached the box to his own belt, letting it swing casually beside the shrivelled head of his beloved wench. "Charming, ye say?" Vikki looked down at the deck and tucked her hair behind her ear as Teague turned around and began to walk back to the helm. "Yer missing an earring." The brunette's hand went straight to her ear to find that the small silver hoop was infact, gone. If it was possible, she turned even redder upon remembering what had happened, how she had swooned, how she had experienced so much pleasure...she thought about how much more pleasure could that pirate give to her.

Vikki darted from the deck as the crew was ordered to get back to work. She ran below deck and into her cabin and tore off the remaining part of the dress and slowly began to undo the corset. Once she was free from her confinement and able to breathe properly once again, she bound her chest with some gauze before pulling on her shirt.

Vikki sat on the bed beside Boots who had not moved since that morning, and gently pet him on the head. Then she leant back until her head hit the pillow, '_What a day_.' She thought. She blushed upon rethinking about the pirate who'd kissed her and she pressed two fingers to her lips. Immediately, she sat up and held her earlobe with the missing earring. She scowled and stood up. Vikki left the confinements of her cabin and trudged up the stairs onto the main deck and made her way towards the rigging of the crows nest. Determined not to think about that pirate anymore.

Once inside the crows nest, she sat down and pulled out her silver telescope. Port Royal was no more than a speck in the distance now, and Vikki sighed with relief that she wasn't caught and hung for being a pirate.

"Bad luck." Vikki snapped her head to the left at the sound of Sam's voice, and she felt butterflies in the pit of her stomach. He hopped over the side of the crows nest and took a seat on the bench next too her. "At least there's another three rings to get, and I'm sure yer'll find a way to steal the first one back."

Vikki nodded in agreement, "I hope so." She replied, "I don't want to let the Captain down again."

Sam shook his head, "Ye won't let him down." He replied. "What was this other pirate like? Did ye battle 'im?"

Vikki frowned, "Kind of. We didn't really clash blades; it was more arguing than anything else."

Sam chuckled, "He's obviously not very keen on fighting women. Ye should use yer gender against him next time."

Vikki sighed and tucked a lock of hair behind her ear nervously, "I think he played that game with me." She stated. "But I won't fall for it next time; now that I know what his plan is." She blushed again upon remembering what had happened, and then grit her teeth, angry that she was thinking about him again!

Sam leant his head back against the mast, "Were ye hurt?" He asked, examining the girl seated beside him.

Vikki turned to look at him and shook her head, "More embarrassed than anything. I hope that won't happen again."

Sam stood up to leave, "At least ye looked nice in that dress." Vikki blushed as he winked at her, and as he descended the rigging and jumped onto the main deck, Vikki put her telescope back to her eye to resume her duties. She had a warm feeling from Sam, she believed they would be good friends, and if things went well between them...perhaps they would be something more? He was good-looking, and charming.

"Charming..." Vikki mumbled to herself, her thoughts wondering back to _that_ pirate. Although she hadn't seen his face, she had a warm feeling from him aswell. Something inside her hoped that she would run into him again, and it would be light enough so that she could see his face. Her imagination played up a physical description of him; rugged good-looks to match the charming voice he had, a love for alcohol (just because all pirate's she'd met drank _only_ rum). She had seen dreadlocks, and imagined a hat to make him look more like the Captain he'd said he was. Blushing, Vikki sighed and shook the image out of her head when she imagined his lips on hers again. This was certainly not the time for that kind of thinking!

Vikki continued her duty in the crows nest for the remainder of the day and was thankful that there was nothing for the crew to worry about. The brunette leant back against the mast once the sun began to set, casting a magnificent ruby red glow to fan out across the ocean.

Although she felt guilty about not succeeding in retrieving the first of the four sacred rings, Vikki was determined not to let the Captain down again - and she was determined not to be wooed by that mysterious pirate again.

As a greying pirate climbed the rigging to relieve Victoria from her duty, the brunette reluctantly left the beautiful vista behind her as she descended the rigging and stepped onto the main deck. She thought about finding Teague and once again apologising for failing the task set on her, but upon finding him absent from the helm, she retreated to the confinements of her cabin instead. Tomorrow would be another day; another heading towards the second ring; another chance to prove herself worthy of being aboard the _Troubadour_.

As the brunette headed below deck she cast one glance back towards the sunset glowing across the ocean. She sighed before closing the hatch and slowly walking towards one of the barrels by the railings of the ship. She took a seat and placed her elbows onto the wood and rested her chin in her hands, it was truly a beautiful sight and definately one of the main things she had missed about being out on the ocean.

Footsteps were audiable behind her, but Vikki couldn't bring herself to look away from the watercolour sky and sea. "Beautiful, ain't it?" Sam stated, taking a seat on the barrel beside Vikki.

Vikki nodded, "This has to be one of the main things I've missed about being on sea." She replied honestly.

They sat in silence, just looking out to sea, watching the sun setting on the horizon of colourful ocean. The golden glow of the sun splashing streaks of crimson across the sky, and reflecting into the sea like a mirror. "I remember when I was younger," Sam began. "My mother would sit out on deck during the sunset, and paint."

"Is she a good painter?" Vikki asked, turning her head slightly to look at the young blonde pirate beside her.

"She were." Sam replied, taking his eyes off the horizon to look into Vikki's ocean blue orbs. "She would only paint landscape." He continued, "And when I asked her why she didn't paint portrait, she showed me a picture of what I thought was my grandfather..." He looked back towards the beautiful scenery. "It was actually my dad." He chuckled. "She just could not paint younger people."

Vikki smiled at Sam, his eyes had the horizon reflected in them and his slightly tanned cheekbones shone with a warm glow. "Can you paint?" She asked.

Sam looked over at her and shook his head, "Not one bit. I don't have my mother's artistic talent." He stuck his hands into his pockets. "What about yer mother?" He asked.

Vikki grimaced, she didn't really like talking about her mother. She lived with her mother for one year before being handed over to her father. "I'd like to think I'm different from her." Vikki stated, casting her gaze back towards the sunset. "She's a whore." She stated. "Was or is, I don't know."

"What about yer father?" Sam asked.

Vikki fingered the locket hanging from a thin chain around her slender neck. "He raised me from when I was a baby. But I haven't seen him for many years." She opened the locket around her neck and showed Sam the picture inside. "This is him with me when I was a child."

The man in the picture was broad shouldered and slightly tubby. He had a rounded face with a friendly grin set on his features, his eyes the same ocean blue as Vikki's. His hair was slightly darker than Vikki's was, and he had greying side-burns running down his cheeks and along his jawline. Sam could see that Victoria shared the same eye colour as her father, and perhaps once the old man used to have the same hair colour aswell.

Once Vikki closed the locket, she looked up at Sam, "I just want to find him." She stated.

The blonde eyed her carefully before nodding his head, "And I'll help ye." He smirked. "Now." He got to his feet, "Shall I teach yer how to play poker?" Vikki blinked up at him before nodding, and shyly accepting his outstretched hand, and following him below deck.

Once inside the stock room, Sam dealt out the cards and explained how to play, which they did for a fair few hours. Vikki could not understand it, and she always lost. After the third round of cards she had given up, and they spent most of the night talking and laughing over rum, getting to know each other more, and becoming - what Vikki hoped to be - friends. As their evening came to an end, Sam walked Vikki back to her cabin and brushed a light kiss across her knuckles before bidding her goodnight. Vikki stepped into her room, her head reeling with so many emotions, did she like him? Of course she did!

She collapsed on her cot beside Boots and began to gently pet the cat as he walked back and fourth across her slim body. Vikki began to talk to him; tell him about her day, something that she had done since the first three days she had been aboard the _Troubadour_, and something she actually looked foward to each evening.

The next morning, Vikki taught Thomas how to use a cutlass. They talked and laughed, and Thomas was a quick learner. The young boy was very sweet and open about himself, and Vikki learned that he had been living on a ship with his parents for the past eight years, but the ship was savagely attacked by another and from what the young boy knew, everyone was lost at sea. Vikki spoke to Tom about her own father and how she was sailing around the Caribbean in search of him.

Reluctantly, Vikki left Tom to scrub the deck so that she could attend to her own duty; manning the crows nest. The crew had been informed that morning that they should be arriving at the Pelegostos Island that afternoon and the brunette was to go onto the island and search for the second ring. Victoria was determined not to fail Teague twice in two days!

"If that pirate gets in the way again," Vikki stated. "Then I'll have to shoot him and this time there will be no wet powder!" Sam had joined her in the crows nest after he had attended to his duties aboard the _Troubadour_. Vikki had only been at her station for a short while before the blonde haired pirate playfully knocked on the side of the mast and joined her. Vikki sighed in frustration, and Sam watched her pull out the telescope and scan the ocean surrounding the _Troubadour_ for any signs of land.

"I can come with ye." He stated. "Ye can go after the ring and I'll keep him occupied with my cutlass."

Vikki closed the silver telescope and leant back against the mast, "You know the Captain won't let anyone go with me." She stated.

"Which is ridiculous." Sam stated, rolling his eyes. "The Pelegostos are cannibals - everyone knows that."

"They're what?" She heard Tia Dalma call the island 'cannibalistic' but she didn't expect that to actually be true!

Sam looked deep into her ocean blue eyes to look for any hint that she was joking before he began telling her about the tribe of cannibals who inhabited the island. Vikki kept note of the information and made a mental note to not be captured or seen by any of the tribe. She pulled out her telescope and in the distance, she spotted a canopy and forest of trees.

"Captain!" She called down to Teague who was manning the helm. "Land!" She pointed North East, and once the Captain opened the mysterious box Victoria had nabbed from the mysterious pirate back in Port Royal, he nodded towards her and began to bark out his orders to the rest of the crew.

"Land ho!" The crew responded.

**I know the end of this chapter was a filler, but I was just setting the scene for the next one where Vikki will finally meet Jack! Woop woop!**

**Did you like this chapter? Do you have any suggestions for any later chapters? I'll be happy to hear them, no flames though please :) xx**


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6**

Once again, Vikki found herself going ashore to try and get another one of the four rings. But this time, thankfully, she wasn't wearing a dress (most likely because it had been ruined when she in Port Royal).

As Nigel rowed her to the beach, Vikki thought of a plan in her head. Sam had informed her that the Pelegostos were cannibals and would more than likely try to capture her upon sight, make her their Cheif (which Vikki was more than happy to hear) and then cook and eat her to release her from her human form (Which she was - of course - less than happy to hear). Vikki had many things to cross off her bucket list before she died, one of which was to find her father and she couldn't do that if she was dead.

The longboat reached the shore, and Vikki hopped out into the crystal clear water. The waves lapped at her breaches and darkened the striped material up to her knees. "Nigel, move the boat back a little. We don't know if the Pelegostos can swim."

"Aye." He stated, starting to row again. "Good luck, Stripes. And be careful!"

"I will." Vikki mumbled, staring up at the tall trees worridly. Why did Teague make her do this on her own? She pat her belt to ensure that she had both her cutlass and her pistol, and upon feeling both, she waded through the water towards the moist, golden sandy beach. The forest beyond was a mixture of different shades of green, she could hear different noises coming from the forest, birds, insects chirping...but no monkeys. Vikki thought this forest looked like the kind monkeys would be in. But then she stopped to think about it, '_All the monkeys are dead.'_ She thought.

She began to walk up a narrow, winding, dry dirt path which seemed to go on forever. She had walked along for an hour before finally straying from the path and walking through overgrown, longrass. She kept a close eye out for snakes and spiders as she stopped to take a breath. The trees were tall and thin, with bunches of coconuts, mangos, bananas, papayas and plenty of other fruit growing in them. '_Why be a cannibal if there's so much fruit?'_ She thought. '_They can easily just catch fish!_' Hearing the hiss of a snake, Vikki decided it was time that she continued onwards.

Surprisingly, she hadn't run into any traps set by the cannibals. Unsuprisingly, she was completely lost.

Vikki had assumed that the Pelegostos camp would have been at the top of the hill, but three hills later, she had had no such luck in finding it. She stopped and placed both hands on her hips, and turned around to figure out which direction she should go next. She turned to what she thought was West before carrying on walking and stopped suddenly when she almost fell of the edge of a cliff. She gasped and regained her balance, her heart was racing. The tall mountain infront of her should have been her first clue that she was coming to a large drop into a vast amount of water below, but then again, she was too busy looking out for any movement to notice.

Vikki looked up at the cliff and followed the line of jagged rocks towards a bridge. The bridge looked thin, badly boarded and rickety and she didn't envy the pelegostos guard walking along it. '_Hang on..._' She thought, '_Where there's a pelegostos guard, there was the tribe's camp._' Teague had informed her that the ring would more than likely be there. In the camp. He had recited Tia Dalma's words to her aswell: 'the tribes people worship it beside their cheif'. That meant that it would be in the camp, close to their cheif...if they had one, Vikki was going to have to get in and out without anyone crying for help because she was definitely not going to risk her own life to save someone else's!

Ducking behind one of the shrubs, Vikki carefully made her way towards the rocky cliff where there were long, thick green vines hanging from the top of the grey cliff. She took one in her hand and tested her weight on it and upon finding it strong and stable, she slowly began to climb up the cliff, making sure that she kept close enough to the wall without being spotted by any of the pelegostos people.

As she reached the top, she slowly raised her head to see if the coast was clear and, upon noticing a nearby bush, Vikki quickly climbed over the top of the cliff and jumped behind the shrub, being cautious about the cannibals who could be inside the huts. Their housing was nothing that Vikki had ever seen before! The walls were made from mud and clay, and the roof on each hut was made from a bamboo-like plant which had been dried and thatched together in the shape of a cone. The doors of each hut were either large pieces of bark, or dangling shell curtains, and the windows were bars of sticks.

Carefully and quietly, Vikki made her way out from behind the shrub and spotted a bridge not too far away from her. She quietly ran towards it, ducking behind yet another bush and waiting to hear for any sounds of footsteps or alarm bells. But there were none. '_This is too easy_.' She thought, she checked behind her before darting across the bridge and ducking behind another bush on the other side. She checked three times to see if the coast was clear, and upon realising that the area was unguarded at that moment, she stepped out to see where she would be going next. There were more trees, and Vikki knew that the main camp would be nearby, and prehaps a hut for their Cheif? There must be some jewellery decorating the camp - hopefully the sacred ring that she was looking for!

Victoria tiptoed through the trees, making sure to watch her footing and not step on any twigs or sticks.

Then she heard voices. Voices speaking in a language she didn't quite recognise. Were they coming from the left? Or were they coming from the right? Vikki didn't know, and as she began to panic, someone covered her mouth with their hand and pulled her against their chest behind one of the trees. Vikki struggled against them, and only stopped when the familiar rugged voice spoke just above a whisper in her ear, his breath and beard tickling her.

"Calm down, love. I'm not going to eat you." Vikki forced herself not to melt in his arms, and instead pulled herself out of them to face her ring theif. "Not yet anyway." He flashed her a disarmingly charming grin.

Vikki couldn't find any words. He had the expected rugged good-looks and wore the expected charming smile. She spotted similarities between him and Teague, and could only come up with the fact that this pirate was an imposter of the Keeper of the Code.

His eyes captivated her, they were pools of warm chocolate brown and held an aura of mystery and adventure - a thing Vikki loved!

He wore dark brown breaches which were tucked into a pair of leather boots, a dark blue waistcoat was worn ontop of a cream coloured shirt, a red sash and thick brown belt hung around his hips, which held his cutlass, another belt was worn over his shoulder and across his chest which held a holster for his pistol. He had thick, dark dreadlocks, a moustache, and a beard which was plaited into two and decorated with a few beads. Across his forehead was a red bandanna with a Piece of Eight hanging from a beaded string. Also tied into his hair was a long, thin bone and a couple strings of beads. A tricorne hat sat ontop of his head, which completed the whole persona of being the 'Captain' that he said he was. She finally found her voice and questionned him, "what're you doing here?"

"Probably the same reason as you." He smirked, "for the second ring." The voices of the pelegostos grew louder and both Vikki and the pirate shrunk down and stepped back behind the tree, waiting in silence for them both to pass. But they had been spotted. "Run!" The man yelled, taking off into the trees and overgrown shrubbery. Vikki's eyes widened at the two cannibal men roaring towards her and she soon took off after the dreadlocked pirate.

She ran as fast as she could and as she stepped out of the trees, she began to feel tingles all over her body. The same tingles she had felt when she was near the ring in Port Royal. Vikki then realised they were in the main camping area. Her eyes darted around as she ran, and her eyes locked on something glinting gold on the empty throne which the Tribal Chief dinner would usually be perched on. She felt that inner tingling grow stronger, and she knew this was the second sacred ring.

Vikki made a quick detour around the fire pit and her eyes locked onto a gold ring with a green stone, encrusted with sapphires. She pulled it out of the slot in the chair and turned around, smirking with triumph.

Her face dropped as a huge pelegostos guard raised his weapon and came at her with an incredible speed. Vikki screamed and ducked out of the way as the blade cut a chunk out of the wooden, handpainted and decorated throne. She didn't see where the pirate had run off too, but she ran away from the guard and into the trees behind the throne. '_The beach will be downhill.'_ She thought, running down the grassy mountain; dodging trees blocking her path. She caught sight of the man running with his hands waving wildly, and she stuffed the gold ring down her bound chest and into her cleavage to keep it safe.

Vikki followed him down the hill, but was taken offguard when he suddenly stopped. She couldn't halt fast enough and ended up barreling into him - causing them both to topple off the edge of the cliff and down towards the water far below them. They both yelled and screamed as they fell; clutching onto each other for dear life.

The impact as they hit the water knocked all the breath out of Vikki, and she quickly swam towards the surface. As soon as she broke through the water, she gasped for air and began to paddle. The man came up for air aswell and grabbed her wrist to pull her towards the wall of the cave. They swam into the furthest corner of the cave - and as far away from the spot where two guards were searching the water for them. Vikki held onto the pirate, trying to get as far away from the cannibals eyes as possible. She could hear the man's heartbeat hammering in his chest, and she knew hers was doing the same (whether it was from such a close proximity to the rugged pirate or adrenaline from fear she didn't know).

As the pelegostos guards moved away from the cliff face, Vikki detatched herself from the pirate and began to swim towards the land which she could haul herself onto and once she grabbed onto the rock, she weakly pulled herself out of the water and onto land. The pirate hopped up himself, and both of them stood there for a second letting the water run off their clothing. They looked up from their sopping wet clothes to glare at each other before walking up a steep rocky slope and into more forest.

The dreadlocked pirate span on his heel to face the brunette, pointing both his index fingers at her. "I don't know what you're doing here, love." The man stated, "you know full well that the ring's are mine. Taking things that don't belong to you is known as stealing."

Vikki placed both hands on her hips and smiled smugly at him. "Pirate." She stated as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

The man smirked at her before his eyes caught onto something, they travelled upwards into the trees beside him and he sauntered over to whatever he had spotted. Vikki look around but upon finding nothing, she watched him with confusion. He reached into one of the trees and pulled something down so that he now held the end of a long, thick vine in his hand and he smirked triumpantly at the brunette. Vikki frowned as the man pointed to her feet, and just as she looked down he pulled.

The loop from one of the traps set by the pelegostos tightened around her ankle and Vikki screamed as she was pulled into the air and hung upside down over a tree branch. She struggled in the air before finally accepting the fact that she wasn't going to be let down until she'd given him some information, or heard and agreed to negotiate something. She shivered upon remembering the fat, balding man at Port Royal, but blushed upon remembering the amount of pleasure the pirate had given her just by nibbling on her ear lobe...if he negotiated anything like the Port Royal man did...there was no way she'd be responsible for her actions.

"Oi!" Vikki was pulled out of her thoughts by the dreadlocked pirate standing upside down infront of her. "What do they call you, love?" He eyed her breaches. "Stripes? Or do you have an actual name?"

"Both."

"Oh," The pirate raised his eyebrows at her. "What is your real name, love?"

She scowled at him. "Why should I tell you that? You haven't told me yours."

"Oh, forgive me." He took off his hat and brought both his hands to his chest - the end of the vine still in one of them. "Captain Jack Sparrow at your service, love." He held out one of his hands towards her as he placed his tricorne hat back upon his head.

"Vikki, Captain." Vikki took his hand and shook it, despite the position she was currently in.

"Short for Victoria, I imagine?" Vikki nodded, frowning slightly as she remembered the moment in Tortuga when she'd introduced herself to Captain Teague. The pirate smirked. "Now, to buisness." He started, "Why are you after the four sacred rings?"

"It was an order from my Captain." She replied, startled slightly as the vine began to spin her body around in the air.

Jack walked around with her so that he could talk to her face rather than her back. "Who is your Captain, and what ship do you sail aboard?"

Vikki scowled at him, "With all due respect Captain, I don't think I am obliged to be telling you that."

"Aye," Jack nodded, and then smirked. "You know, you have my compass." He stated, "which means that I had trouble finding this island - especially without a ship. And without my compass I will have trouble finding this next ring, which means that I will have trouble to lead me to it." He placed his hands on his hips and grinned triumphantly. "And that trouble...is you, love."

"No."

"No what?" He frowned at her. He hadn't expected her to say that!

"I'm not going to lead you to the ring."

Jack shrugged, "Then I'll be tying the end of the vine to this tree, and leave you here for the pelegostos to get you." To prove his point, he tied the end tightly to the tree he'd pointed to and began to walk away from her, slowly, waiting for her to call him back.

"Please don't leave me here!" She called out to him, annoyed at herself for using the frightened and panicked tone in her voice so obviously.

Jack smirked and turned around, "Why would I let you down?" He asked. "You just said that you weren't going to lead me to the ring." Vikki sighed and grabbed the vine tied around her ankle. She forcefully tried to undo the knot, but it failed to loosen. Although she had been a sailor for plenty of years, the pelegostos did not tie a rope the same way as sailors. "Would you like me to undo that for you? Before the Pelegostos come?" She lowered herself down to face him once again.

"I cannot lead you too it."

"And why not?"

"It's...in the Pelegostos camp."

"What?" Jack wasn't planning on ever going back there, at all. Not after the last time when he was made their Chief and almost cooked over a roaring fire so they could free his trapped God spirit.

"Attached to the chair for their Cheif." Vikki replied, "You'd have to be mad to go in and try to get it."

Jack smirked, "well isn't it great that I am mad, slightly."

"You can't be serious!" Vikki exclaimed.

"Deadly." Jack smirked and then released the vine tied around the tree. Vikki hit the floor and looked up at the sky whilst her head began spinning. A handsome face came into view and she blushed slightly upon realising that she'd thought him handsome - which he was. "Now, if you're not going to come with me to get the ring and then fight over who's going to be the one to take it, then I'll go alone." Vikki shook her head, she was not going back there, they'd only just made it out alive. Jack took a step back and then stopped, he reached into his breast pocket and pulled out a silver hoop. He then bent down in front of the brunette and handed it too her, smirking, "I believe this belongs to you, love."

Vikki blushed a deep red as she took the hoop from the pirate before watching him walk back towards the Pelegostos camp. She actually felt bad about sending him to his death, but she was a pirate herself nevertheless and if he was disposed of, then she wouldn't be attracted to the bloody man. She weakly got to her feet and began to walk back to the beach, putting her returned earring back in as she did so. It wasn't until she had gotten to the beach that she pulled the ring out from her chest bindings.

"I knew you were sending me to my death." Jack's voice made her stop in her tracks. "How else would you know exactly where the ring would be unless you had found it, eh? And when you'd have found it, you would've taken it. I'm not stupid, love."

Vikki slipped the ring onto her finger, it was a little big for her but...it wasn't going to be hers. "What ring?" She smiled, feigning innocence.

"It's right there, on your finger!" Jack exclaimed, pointing at it. He saw movement from behind the brunette but didn't focus on it. "Now hand it over or I shall hang you from that tree." He placed his hands on his hips, "by your foot." He added as an after thought.

"Look, Captain." Vikki began. "You have one ring, now I have one ring...doesn't that seem fair to you?"

"Not when I don't have a ship." He stated. "Or a crew. Just a first mate."

Vikki frowned, "So...where is your ship? _Captain_."

"In this bottle." Jack stated, pulling said bottle out from inside his shirt.

"And the rings will help you to free your ship?" Jack nodded in response. The brunette looked inside the bottle, the ship was absoloutely beautiful! Vikki jumped backwards when a face appeared infront of her own. "And it comes with a free monkey." She stated.

"Yes, well...that monkey-" Jack cut himself off, his eyes widening in fear as he looked over the brunette's shoulder.

Vikki looked down in confusion when she felt the sand beneath her feet shaking slightly. "What the?" She felt a tug on her hand and gasped upon finding that Jack had slipped the ring from her. She looked up at Jack to find that he was running away from her, his arms waving frantically. Slowly, Vikki turned around and screamed as the entire tribe of Pelegostos were charging towards her, their weapons waving in their hands. Vikki turned around again and took off after Jack without a second thought.

She found it hard to catch up with him. She tried his theory of waving her arms madly and - although it worked - she probably looked insanely stupid, so she stopped when she was hot on his heels. Vikki looked at his hands and noticed the first ring was on his finger and she glared at his back; plotting a way that she could steal that ring, and take the second one back from him.

They ran back towards the forest and up the hill, both were panting by the time they reached the top. But they had no time to stop for breath as the Pelegostos were still chasing after them. Jack reached out and grabbed hold of Vikki's wrist before making a sharp left and into a long rocky tunnel. They made a sharp right and into a small crevase in the wall for just the two of them. They remained in silence, listening intently for any signs that the Pelegostos were there, although there was a rumbling above them, which signalled that the tribe had run over the top of the cave.

As the rumbling passed, they waited for another few silent minutes before moving again. Jack stepped out of the crevace first, followed by Vikki who was a little wobbly due to being so close to someone so handsome and...rugged.

Jack poked his head out of the cave and smiled, "Oh good." He stated, "they've gone." He turned to look at Vikki and smirked before running out of the cave. The brunette was too intruiged in the carvings on the cave wall to notice his disappearance.

"What are these?" She asked Jack. She frowned upon recieving no reply and turned around to find that the pirate had gone. She knew he would have gone back to the beach. She sighed in frustration before running after the pirate.

As she grew closer to the beach, she saw Jack casually strolling along it and towards a row boat with a man napping inside.

Silently and quickly, she ran across the sand towards Jack and once she was close enough, she jumped onto his back - sending him sprawling into the sand. She tried to use her weight to pin him down as she made a grab for the first and seconds rings which were both on the index finger of his right hand.

"Get off!" He demanded.

"Ask nicely!" She rhetorted, fighting for the rings.

"Get off, please!"

"That's not-" She stopped mid-sentance. "-Oh, it is." He shifted his weight underneath her and Vikki toppled onto the sand beside him - crying out in suprise - her hands still clasped around the rings on his finger. She pulled the rings closer towards her, and rolled over Jack's hands so that she was ontop of them. She finally pulled them from his hands and crawled away from him, but he grabbed hold of her ankle and pulled her backwards.

"I think this has gone on long enough." Buck's voice casually stated. Both Vikki and Jack looked up at the gathering of pirates standing before them with bored expressions on their faces.

"I suppose these are your crew mates?" Jack asked. Vikki nodded in response and both of them slowly got to their feet. "I suppose this is where you clap me in irons, eh?" Jack stated, spitting some sand out of his mouth.

"'Ello Jackie." Jack paused brushing his clothing and turned around to face Teague who was standing behind him.

"Hello dad." He grinned innocently.

"Mother's love..." Mr Gibbs stated.

Jack turned from his father back to Victoria. "Now, if you'd be so kind as to-" He paused upon noticing the expression on Victoria's face. It was priceless! The brunette was gaping, open-mouthed, obviously in her own little world. Jack grinned and turned to his father, "Aren't you proud that my insanely good looks have this effect on women? Despite me being covered in sand?"

Teague chuckled, "She's not looking at you, Jackie boy."

Jack frowned at his father in confusion, "Then whose better looking than me?" He turned back to the girl and followed her eye line to the man standing behind him whose mouth was also hanging wide open, "Surely not Mr Gibbs!"

"Victoria?"

The brunette gasped and rushed fowards, "Father!" She threw her arms around Mr Gibbs tightly. "I thought I'd never see you again," She sobbed into his chest.

Teague turned to his son, "Two families have been reunited." He stated, chuckling.

Jack grinned uneasily and threw his arms into the air, "Drinks all around!" He cheered before turning back to face his own father. "Now, I'm going to ask you a most incredibly serious question, are you ready?" Teague frowned and nodded his head. "Am I correct in thinking you have rum?"

His father only chuckled in response and beckoned his crew to head back towards the long boats. "Jackie," Teague began. "Both ye and Mr Gibbs are to board the _Troubadour_. As we're both finding the sacred rings it would be much easier for ye to sail on my ship...ye couldn't possibly pass through the mermaid realm on that little rowboat now, could ye?"

"Great!" Jack grinned enthusiastically and turned to Vikki. "You'll be seeing a lot more of me now, love." The brunette only sighed in response and walked beside her father towards one of the longboats which would be sailed back to the _Troubadour_ imminently. This was not going to be good at all, not only was she becoming more and more attracted to this man every time she thought about him, but now that they would be on the same ship together she was going to have more things to think about because there was no way she was going to be able to avoid him.

_'Bloody pirate.'_ She thought.

**I apologise for the long update, but I am now back at school studying for my A-Levels. I know it's only the start of a new year but already I find A2 much more relaxed and almost _easier _than AS :/ strange, I know!**

**Anyway, thank you so much to those people who have reviewed/alerted and such :) a review always makes me smile xx**


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter 7**

As the crew, Jack and Mr. Gibbs boarded the _Troubadour_, Captain Teague commanded his men to get back to their stations and to prepare the ship towards it's next heading to find the third ring.

"Jackie," Teague stated. "We have much to discuss." He gestured towards his cabin, and as the pirate made his way past Victoria he stopped and turned to face her. "Stripes, you can show Mr. Gibbs around." He stated, "And then attend to your duties." He held his cabin door open for his son.

"Aye, Captain." Vikki stated before grabbing her fathers wrist and pulling him across the deck towards the hatch.

The brunette showed her father the crews quarters, the kitchen, the doctor's cabin, the cellar, her room and finally, the dining room (which was where the poker games were held). They sat down in the dining room for a while, to ask and answer the questions that had been on each others minds over the years. The table had sixty wooden chairs along the sides of the long oak table, and one chair was at the head of the table; which was for the Captain. There were a few cabinets at the front of the room, along with a storage space for food. Utensils and different sized pots and pans hung from the ceiling above the firewood stove.

"Jack and I were sailing the Caribbean." Gibbs stated, his hand clasped around a bottle of rum. "He lost his _Black Pearl_ to a pirate by the name of Barbossa. We got it back after travelling to the Isla de Muerta and there we uncovered the treasure of Cortez and broke the pirate curse set forth by Bootstrap Bill." Vikki nodded along, taking in all the information her father was telling her. "We had a brush with the East India Trading Company," Gibbs grimaced, "And don't we already know a lot about that."

"Unfortunately." Victoria stated, closing her tired eyes for a second.

"Aye," Gibbs nodded. "We then managed to retrieve the key to open the chest of Davy Jones-"

"-Then there was the battle at Shipwreck Cove." Vikki stated enthusiastically. "I heard about that. Davy Jones was killed, and the _Flying Dutchman_ got a new Captain and fought with you against the East India Trading Company."

Gibbs stared at his daughter and nodded, "Aye." He stated, "But before that, Jack got eaten by the Kracken and put in Davy Jones Locker. Tia Dalma raised Barbossa from the dead so we could sail to the edge of the world to get Jack back, and then find our way back to this world again. Then we had the battle at Shipwreck Cove and released the Goddess Calypso from her human bonds. A few months later, Jack got taken aboard the _Queen Anne's Revenge_-"

"-Blackbeard." Vikki stated in awe.

"Aye." Gibbs stated, a little annoyed at being interrupted again. "Sailed off to find the Fountain of Youth. Barbossa killed Blackbeard as the old codfish was killed himself. Jack mutinied Blackbeard's daughter on an island, as she was the most deceiving woman we'd ever come across. The _Black Pearl_ has been stuck in that bottle for a few months now, and the four sacred rings are our only hope of getting it back."

"What an adventure." Vikki stated, leaning back in her chair. "And you've been sailing with Jack since?"

"Aye, since we set out to get the _Pearl_ back from Barbossa...a good few years now, Vik. How long have you been aboard the _Troubadour_?"

"Just under a month." She replied. "After we parted, I joined another crew." She ran a hand through her hair, "We only sailed around the Caribbean...nothing exciting really happened." She cleared her throat, "They left me in Tortuga when I was eighteen, and I lived there for a few years until I tried to steal from Nigel."

"Nigel?"

"Third in command of the_ Troubadour_."

"Aye," Gibbs chuckled. "Good thing they let ye aboard rather than cut yer head off." Vikki nodded in agreement. "How old are ye now, Vik? At least twenty-three."

"Twenty-five." The brunette replied, "What about you dad? Just over half a century gone?" Vikki grinned cheekily.

Gibbs pretended to be wounded, "I'm _over_ thirty, that's all ye need to know." He chuckled and took a swig of his rum.

"I should really get back to work." Vikki stated, getting to her feet. "I'm really glad I've found you dad."

"Me too, Vik." Gibbs grinned as he got to his feet aswell.

They climbed their stairs towards the main deck and stepped out. The sun had sunk a little lower in the cloudless sky and it was fairly hot on deck, a nice change from the damp weather the _Troubadour_ had received since Vikki had joined it.

As they stepped onto the deck, Teague and Jack appeared out of the Captain's cabin. As Vikki said goodbye to her father, she tried to not let Jack spot her as she slipped away from her fathers side and stood behind the mast. She climbed the rigging and jumped into the crows nest once she reached the top and looked down to see Teague, Jack and Gibbs in deep conversation. It wasn't long before both Gibbs and Teague walked towards the helm and Jack stood in the same spot on the deck looking left and right.

Vikki ducked back behind the wood of the crows nest and breathed a heavy sigh. If he was looking for her then hopefully he wouldn't find her for a few days.

"What're ye doing up here?"

Vikki shot forwards, startled by Sam's sudden appearance. "Get in!" She whispered as she grabbed the front of his shirt and pulled him into the crows nest beside her. "I'm hiding from Jack."

"Why?" Sam asked, smoothing out the wrinkles in his now creased shirt. "What does he want?"

"I don't know." Vikki replied, "But I don't think I'm going to be able to talk to him for a few days." She glanced at the blonde from the corner of her eye, "He's going to tell me not to get in his way when he goes to get the next two rings."

Sam shrugged, "If the rings are for him anyway, then don't ye think ye should stay on the ship now? I mean, yer kind of not needed to find them anymore."

Vikki narrowed her eyes at the blonde pirate. He called himself her _friend_? "Tia Dalma said that _I_ should get the rings. So I'm getting the rings whether I'm needed to or not!"

Sam rolled his eyes and ran a hand through his hair. "Yer so stubborn." Vikki rolled her own eyes in response, and pressed her back against the mast. "So," He began, turning to look at her. "Now that ye found yer dad...what's next?"

Vikki shrugged, "I don't know." She blushed slightly upon remembering the thought she'd had when she first met Sam. _'Never had she spoken to such a good-looking man in all her life, she was a little flustered and blown away by Sam. Her heart pounded in her chest, was she crushing on him? She shook her head, forbidding herself to get any feelings for anyone. She wanted to find her father before getting attached to anyone.'_

"Perhaps ye should," Sam shrugged. "Find someone else now."

Vikki blushed, thinking she knew what he was talking about. "What do you mean?" She asked innocently, brushing a lock of hair behind her ear nervously.

"Ye know." He started, "I think it's time ye gave ye'self to someone." Vikki frowned, did he mean marriage? "And I'd be willing." He turned to look her in the eye. "And as it'll be yer first time, I'll go slow, that way it won't hurt ye as much."

Blushing, Vikki turned away from him and ran her finger behind her ear - even though she had no hair to tuck away. She cleared her throat, this was uncomfortable. He didn't mean marriage, he meant sex. "I'll think about it." She stated, finally.

"There's not _that_ much to think about." He stated, shrugging. "I can't believe yer twenty-five and still a virgin. Infact, I can't believe ye lived in _Tortuga_ and yer still a virgin."

"This conversation is making me feel quite uncomfortable." She said quietly. "I'll think about it." She stated, not daring to look up at him. As he tried to press the matter further Vikki stood up and roughly handed him the telescope before taking hold of the rope and swinging down from the crows nest. She landed on the deck with a thud...but had forgotten the reason why she'd hid up there in the first place.

"Ah," Jack stated, swaggering towards her. "There you are, love. I've been looking for you."

Forgetting that she had the two rings still on her fingers, Vikki pulled them off and hurriedly placed them in Jack's open palm. "There." She stated, not looking him in the eye as she brushed past him and made her way towards the hatch to go below deck. After that conversation with Sam she most _definitely_ needed a drink.

"Wait! Love," Jack appeared in front of her again and slipped the rings onto his fingers. Vikki sighed impatiently and waited for him to say what he wanted to say, Jack frowned and looked at her closely. "My tremendous intuitive sense of the female creature informs me that you are troubled." He pointed a bejewelled finger at her knowingly, "Rum will help."

A thud was audible from behind them as Sam landed on the deck, "I expect an answer sometime, Vikki." He stated as he passed by, shoving the telescope back into the brunette's hands. He opened the hatch before he disappeared below deck, most likely towards the storage room where the majority of the crew would be playing poker.

Jack smirked, "Trouble in paradise, love?"

Vikki glared at him, "If there was, Jack, it wouldn't be any of _your_ business." Realising the crows nest was unmanned, Vikki turned back towards the mast and began to climb the rigging, that drink would have to wait.

"So this is where you've been hiding." Jack stated from behind Vikki as the brunette sat down on the bench around the mast. She looked up at him with her ocean blue eyes, a look that clearly told him that she didn't want to talk at that moment. Jack ignored the look and continued to climb into the crows nest and take a seat beside the brunette. "It's rather cosy in here." He observed as he sat beside the girl.

Victoria blushed lightly and rested her chin in her hands, the small amount of space between them was rather awkward.

"What's the trouble then, love?" He asked. "Talk to Jack."

"I don't want to talk about it." Her face flushed red when she thought about the conversation between her and Sam.

Jack noticed her blush and commented on it, "That bad, huh?"

Vikki's blush deepened as she looked at the dreadlocked pirate and glared at him. "Leave." She stated, "Now."

"I might oblige if you-"

"-Just leave me alone!" She exclaimed, her temper flaring.

Jack stared at her pointedly, "Calm down, love." He leant back against the mast and took a swig of his rum. "Let me take your mind off of things," He began. "I believe you to have caught up on life with your father dearest?" From the corner of his eye he saw the brunette nod her head. "Good." He stated, taking another swig of his rum. "He never told me he had a daughter."

Vikki frowned at Jack, "That's probably because you didn't ask." Either that or Jack had a reputation with the ladies, Vikki blushed slightly at the thought.

Jack frowned, "I didn't think of it that way." He admitted, "But now we're going to be seeing a lot of each other from now on, I believe it's time I learned some past about my first mate." He grinned as he looked at her. "Do you have any stories?"

Vikki frowned, "You're asking for gossip?" Jack stared at her, gesturing for her to continue on with the story. Vikki shrugged, "You're asking the wrong person." She stated finally. "I haven't seen him since I was sixteen."

Jack frowned, "How old're you now, love?"

"Twenty-five." She replied.

"That would mean that a whole..." He paused for a moment in thought, "_Nine_-years has gone by since you last saw, Mr. Gibbs." Vikki nodded. "What did you do during that time?"

Vikki tucked a lock of hair behind her ear nervously, "I dressed as a boy for two years before joining a crew. The Captain knew I was a woman straight away-"

"-You can't hide breasts from a Captain, darling."

Vikki glared at him and a slight blush coloured her cheeks, "My _hands_ gave me away, actually." She self-consciously looked down at her chest, and although it was bound, you could still quite easily tell she was female. "Anyway, I sailed with them for five years before the Captain's superstitious son stepped on board and I, uh, was left in Tortuga."

"I gotcha," Jack nodded. "Ye joined a brothel to get by."

Vikki glared at him again, "No. I stole from people to pay rent to some woman...and then I accidently got caught stealing from Nigel-"

"-And then me Da persuaded you to board the _Troubadour_." Vikki nodded and Jack turned at look at her. "You haven't mentioned your mother at all."

Vikki scowled and turned to face the ocean, "She's a whore back in England. Abandoned me with my father when I was still a baby."

"Oh," Jack looked intrigued "I didn't know they had whore's in England. You learn something new everyday, don't you?" He took another swig of his rum, "Now that you've told me a story, I shall tell you one." The pirate who took over the nightly duty appeared, so Vikki and Jack made their way into the storage room where the racks of rum lined the walls. They sat down at the table before Jack began to tell his tale about the first time he had found himself on the Pelegostos Island, he watched them for a few days; trying to decipher their native tongue. At that time, he hadn't known they were cannibals and upon being spotted by them, he happily accepted the offer to stay with them for a while longer. "And then they made me their chief " He stated. A loud clap of thunder cut Captain Sparrow off, "Why do I never get to finish?" He murmured as he and Vikki rose to their feet and made their way above deck.

"Thomas!" Vikki called to the eight-year-old as he was running towards the stairs that led to the main deck. The boy turned around and looked at her sheepishly, "Do you know how much I struggled to help you last time?" She asked, "Please don't come above deck now - it's dangerous." The young boy nodded his head before sighing as he made his way back down the corridor towards the mop and bucket he had left behind.

Jack looked at Victoria questioningly but had no time to ask it to her as she quickly made her way onto the main deck, the rain was pouring down hard and fast, and she quickly made her way towards the rigging to relieve the mute pirate from the crows nest. Vikki was useless during a storm so the pirate's strength was needed on deck.

"You shall not go into that crows nest during a storm." Jack pulled Victoria away from the rigging by her wrist.

"His strength is needed way more than mine." Vikki argued, pointing upwards. "Besides, the Captain always let's me."

"Well he's getting old." Jack stated, "Losing the plot a bit. Ignore him. The old codger probably doesn't know his port from starboard."

"Is that right, Jackie?" Captain Sparrow turned around slowly, an innocent grin etched onto his face as he looked up at his father standing behind him. "Do _you_ know your port from starboard?"

"Of course I do!" Jack replied, "Now, let's head to Tortuga. The rum is depleting rapidly," He took a swig from his bottle. "And I cannot find the source to the problem." He gestured towards the brunette, "I think _she's_ been drinking it."

"Victoria rarely drinks." Teague stated. "And if she does, it's very little."

Jack span around to face the female, frowning at her with a horrified expression. "You do not drink? I'm disgusted!"

Victoria rolled her eyes and looked up at Teague, "Permission, Captain?" She asked.

Teague nodded his head, and Jack gaped at his father as the brunette quickly climbed the rigging. "You underestimate her, Jackie boy." Jack grinned again before gesturing towards himself and then up towards the crows nest. Teague shook his head, "She's fine, Jackie. I need you at my helm while I make a heading." As the Captain retired to his cabin, Jack swaggered towards the helm, it had been a long time since he had been aboard the _Troubadour_, but the feeling of standing at the helm made him more at home. He really did miss his _Pearl_, and he couldn't wait to stand at her helm once again.

Oh, how he longed for his precious _Pearl_ back!

**It is my birthday tomorrow! Aha, so reviews would be gratefully and happily accepted! Please let me know what you think so far!**

**There is a surprise in store after the next few chapters ;) xx**


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter 8**

It wasn't long until the storm had passed the Troubadour. However, a thick fog coated the atmosphere, and Vikki could neither see around her or below her. Isolated and alone, she hugged her knees to her chest tightly, keeping her eye open for anything strange or suspicious; just hoping that someone from the crew would think to give her some company.

Suddenly, out of nowhere, a two-headed giant bird appeared with a huge squawk. His talons curled towards the brunette, his big wings flapping fiercely against the wind and fog. Vikki screamed.

The crew of the Troubadour all looked up at the crows nest, worried for their only female member. Upon hearing a splash off the port side of the boat, they ran to the side and saw the brunette who should be in the crows nest, now in the water. She broke through the surface, coughing and spluttering.

"What're ye doin'?" Buck asked, giving the girl a hand onto the deck.

"Did you not see that?!" She exclaimed. The crew surrounding the girl shook their heads, "It was a huge...duck!" She pointed above them at the huge bird swooping towards them. The crew dropped to the floor, dodging the giant bird. It's feathers were scarce upon it's body and the ones that remained were muddy brown and black. It's beak was shaped into a long point, stained with blood and it's talons were sharp, grey and gnarly. "What is that thing?" She asked no one in particular.

"A Gandaberunda." She turned to the voice of Jack. He eyed her confused expression, "They eat human flesh."

Vikki wrinkled her nose and looked around the foggy ship for the bird, "Lovely." She then drew her pistol and cocked it, the remaining crew members on the main deck also did the same. She slowly moved away from the crew members and gasped when the bird appeared from the slowly evaporating fog. She shot her pistol at it three times, yet the bird squawked angrily and flew back into the foggy atmosphere. The hatch door opened and Thomas appeared above the deck, "Tom!" Vikki called. "Get back-" She finished her sentence with a scream as the Gandaberunda's talons pulled her off the deck and into the air. She watched the ship grow smaller and smaller into the distance, and turned to curl up on herself when the pirates began to open fire on the bird. Someone caught a bullet in the birds foot, and Vikki began to fall towards the ocean.

It looked as though a few crew members had disappeared, and Vikki's thoughts were confirmed when she heard shouts and cries from aboard the Troubadour. She jolted in her fall as the Gandaberunda caught hold of her leg again. Vikki pointed her pistol at the large bird and her gun clicked twice; informing her that she had no ammo left. Victoria was dropped again and she landed with a thud in a nest of branches and twigs at the top of a small pillar of grey, moss covered rock.

Vikki pushed herself into a sitting position and gasped. She was surrounded by half a dozen Gandaberunda eggs. She slowly climbed to her feet and leant over the side of the nest to see the waves of the ocean lapping against the rocks. Cracking reached her eardrums, and Vikki turned around to see the eggs hatching. She had to think quickly or else she would be eaten. She noticed the mother swooping back towards the nest with the crew member that had unnerved her when they had gone to see Tia Dalma and Vikki grimaced. She did not want to be stuck with him! As she prepared herself to jump onto the flying bird, the other crew member was dropped into the nest, and the babies had hatched. Victoria lunged towards the bird and grasped a few sparse feathers between her fingers to hold onto.

She left her fellow crew members' cries of pain and the chirping of the birds behind her as she gripped tightly onto the bird to save her own skin.

The mother Gandaberunda flew back towards the Troubadour, and Vikki saw Captain Teague standing in the crows nest holding a fierce looking shotgun in his hands, aimed right at the bird. As soon as she heard the shot fire, she let go of the feathers and screamed as she fell closer towards the ship, her hands ready to catch hold of something to save herself from the hard impact of the main deck.

The crows nest was insight and Vikki's hand narrowly missed the edge, before she could fall any further, a rough calloused hand grabbed hold of her wrist and the brunette was jolted to a stop. The Captain pulled her to safety as the Gandaberunda crash landed onto the main deck before becoming as still as a statue.

Jack swaggered towards the giant bird and kicked it's side with his foot. "Dead." He stated, grimacing at the naked body, the remaining feathers it had were now scattered across the deck.

Teague swung down from the crows nest and stepped towards his son, barking out orders for the bird's body to be thrown overboard. The crew reluctantly handled the bird and Vikki slowly climbed down the rigging of the crows nest and stepped onto the main deck to be greeted by Sam.

"Have fun?" He asked, smirking.

Vikki sighed and shook her head, "Remind me to go below deck anytime we find ourselves in a fog." She replied.

The blonde leant against the mast beside the brunette and grinned, "You can always come into me cabin."

Vikki blushed and tucked a lock of hair behind her ear, deciding to watch the crew carry the bird towards the railings of the ship rather than look at the blonde standing beside her. "Sam," She began. "I told you I'll think about it. It's going to take a while before I can give you an answer."

The blonde shrugged and watched the brunette intently as he replied, "I know." He rolled his eyes, "Yer a woman, ye always take a long time thinking. Ye should leave thinking, and stick to what yer best at."

Vikki scowled at him and placed her hands on her hips, "And what's that?" She asked venomously.

Sam shrugged, "Being a wench."

Vikki raised her hand and cracked it across the blondes cheek. The sound of the slap appeared to echo across the main deck of the Troubadour, the sound that followed was a large splash as the Gandaberunda was dropped into the ocean. Buck stood in between Vikki and Sam and placed a hand on each of their shoulders, "What's going on?" He asked sternly.

Sam shrugged Buck's hand from his shoulder and turned to face him, "I was just telling her how it is." He spat before storming off towards the hatch, leading to below deck.

Vikki turned to face Buck and apologised for her behaviour. "I'm sorry." She stated, "I didn't realise he could be so insulting."

Buck eyed the brunette warily, "Did he do anything else?"

Vikki looked taken aback, "Why?" She asked.

"Meself and Nigel warned ye about some of the crew when ye joined, Stripes." He began. "Ye should steer well clear of 'im."

Vikki blinked in surprise. Sam had been nothing but a friend to her since she'd joined the Troubadour and had only began being a little strange after she'd found her father. He couldn't possibly be one of the sleazy pirates, could he? The brunette shook her head, "I don't think that's necessary, Buck." She stated, "He's my friend. We've just had a fight, that's all."

Buck sighed, but nodded in acceptance, "I'm just warnin' ye, Stripes." He stated, "A nice girl like ye doesn't deserve to be hurt by a guy like 'im. Just be careful." He grinned and drew his cutlass. "Now, what do ye say to a little practice, eh?" Vikki smiled before reaching for her own cutlass, but upon finding it absent from her belt she looked back up at Buck with a frown. Buck chuckled and held up the brunette's cutlass in his other hand, "Ye better get goin'." He stated, lunging at her.

The brunette dodged his blade before stepping away from him and snatching a cutlass from Nigel's belt as he walked past her. She then met Buck's blade with Nigel's, the blades came together with a clash and Vikki stepped towards Buck, lashing out with a wide sweep of the cutlass. Buck blocked before attacking the brunette with a sharp thrust of his own cutlass and then swept Vikki's cutlass towards her - two blades against one.

Vikki took a step back and a quick sweep of her surroundings. A plan forming in her head, she darted towards the mast with Buck chasing after her. She ran around the mast and clashed her cutlass with the one in Buck's right hand; catching him off guard and unarming him. Buck then swept his remaining cutlass towards the brunette and unarmed her, but not before she slid across the wet wood between his legs and scrambled for her cutlass which she had taken out of the first mate's hand. She kicked it into her hand and turned around in time to meet the blade coming towards her.

As the parrying came to a close and the two sheathed their blades, announcing it as a tie, Vikki climbed into the crows nest and scowled at the pirate who was sitting in the crows nest.

Jack turned to the brunette and grinned, "Afternoon, love."

Vikki hopped onto the bench beside him. "Aren't you supposed to be plotting a heading with the Captain?" She asked, snatching her telescope off of him.

The dreadlocked pirate smirked, "I thought I could relieve meself for a while." He stated, "Especially as you were too busy to do your duty." Vikki gaped at him, but shut her mouth and turned back to face the ocean. "So what did the whelp do?"

Vikki turned back to face him and narrowed her eyes, "What?"

"You slapped him." He stated, "Believe me when I say I've had a fair few times of facing the wrath of a woman." He smirked, "And there's only a few reasons why."

Vikki tucked a lock of hair behind her ear nervously, "He insulted me." She replied after a moment or two of silence.

"Ah," Jack said, raising a finger. "An insult is the way some men will show affection."

Vikki sighed and shrugged, "Doesn't matter." She stated, "I'm going to apologise too him."

Jack frowned at her, "Why?" Vikki shrugged in reply. "If you want my professional opinion." He began, sitting up in his seat, "I advise that you do not apologise to the whelp," He got to his feet. "And keep away from him." He grabbed hold of the rope swinging beside the crows nest.

Vikki frowned in suspicion, "You're the second person who's told me that today."

"And the second opinion is always the best one, love." He grinned and then swung down from the crows nest, landing on the main deck with a thud before walking up to the helm where his father was standing. "How far are we from Tortuga?" He asked, placing his hands on the wheel as if trying to take over.

Teague rolled his eyes and gently pushed his son to the side, "Get ye mits of me wheel, Jackie boy." He stated, causing Jack to pout. "Two days at the most, dependant on the weather."

"Oh, good." Jack stated, placing his hand on his hips and frowning at the blonde pirate climbing the rigging towards the crows nest. "I can't wait any longer for some rum and whores."

Teague chuckled, "What I'd give to be a few years younger." He then turned to face his son. "How long ago did you leave Angelica on that island?"

Jack shrugged, "A good month."

Teague turned back towards the helm of the Troubadour, "I thought she'd make a good wench for you, Jackie."

Jack grimaced, "She was insufferable and she tried to kill me numerous times." He replied, effectively ending the conversation.

Vikki looked away from Sam as he sat on the bench beside her in the crows nest, and just as he opened his mouth to say something, Nigel called from the main deck. "Draw your cutlasses men! It's time for some good 'ole twist on our practice! That includes you too, Stripes! Come on men!" As Sam held the rope out towards Vikki, she accepted it graciously before swinging down and landing on the deck with a light thump, and Sam soon joined her.

Barrels were set out along the railings of the ship and Vikki sat on one beside Sam. "This is cutlass gambling " The blonde stated to the brunette.

"What's that?" Vikki asked with interest.

"Two pirates are selected to go head to head against the other, whilst everyone else places bets on who they think'll win." They spectated a few battles, neither of them placing bets on anyone as they just sat and chatted.

"I'm sorry I hit you." Vikki stated, looking the blonde in the eye. "I was out of order to do that-"

Sam waved a hand to dismiss her, "-Don't worry about it." He stated, "I shouldn't have said what I said. Ye did what ye had to do and I admire ye for that."

Vikki nodded and held out her hand, "Mates again?" She asked, smiling innocently.

Sam looked her in the eye before reaching out and taking her small hand in his larger one, "Aye."

"We got our next competitors." A crew member exclaimed, pointing eagerly towards Vikki and Sam's joined hands. The blonde and the brunette glanced at each other before smirking. "Place ye bets!" He added as Vikki and Sam got to their feet and drew their cutlasses. They stood in the middle of the crew who were barking out their bets of whom they thought were going to win, and it wasn't long until a bell rang to signify that they were supposed to begin.

Sam waited for Vikki to attack, and when she did, he parried her easily. Vikki swung at him again, watching both her footwork and for opening's in Sam's defence. She couldn't spot anything, and even when he left a spot wide open - Vikki didn't strike because she knew it was going to be a trap.

"Go on, Vik!" Mr. Gibbs exclaimed.

With the encouragement from her father, Vikki sped up her movements and when Sam least expected it; she brought up her foot and kicked him in the centre of his chest - sending the blonde spiralling to the ground, his cutlass flying out of his hand and clattering across the deck.

As Vikki held her cutlass pointed at Sam's throat, the crew members that had placed their bets on Victoria to win, cheered in unison. The two smiled at each other and Vikki picked up Sam's cutlass and handed it too him as he climbed to his feet.

Then Jack stepped forwards, grinning, "I'm next." He stated, batting Vikki's cutlass with his own.

"Three shillings on Victoria." Teague called from the helm.

Jack turned around and glared at his father, "Oi!" He shouted, causing Teague to chuckle in response. He then turned to look at Mr Gibbs and raised his eyebrows expectantly.

"Two shillings on Jack." Gibbs smiled innocently at his daughter. Jack rolled his eyes at his first mate and brought his palms upwards, wanting the bearded pirate to raise his bet. Gibbs sighed, "Three shillings."

Jack grinned at the brunette before turning to face the crew surrounding them, "Well, make room." He stated, gesturing for them to move backwards.

"You're going to regret that." Vikki stated, pleased with the wide space she had to battle in.

"I don't think I will, love." Jack smirked, preparing himself.

As the bell chimed, Vikki was put straight on the defensive as Jack went in for the attack. She blocked, parried and dodged, glaring at the pirate who seemed to be testing her footwork. They moved in a wide, neat circle, making good use of the wider space the crew had granted them with.

Their blades had been clashing for a good ten minutes and sweat had began to form on the brunette's forehead. Never before had she fought for a long time, she had always won in short, quick bursts...but obviously Jack was used to fighting for a long time, which meant he had a lot of stamina...Vikki imagined what he could do with it. As her cutlass was knocked from her hand, Vikki's eyes widened at the smirk on Jack's face. She turned on her heel and ran towards the mast - Jack hot on her heels.

Once close enough, she jumped onto the wood and flipped over the dreadlocked pirate. Jack's mouth fell open and he turned around to see Vikki running back towards her cutlass.

As Vikki grabbed the hilt of her cutlass, a boot appeared on the blade and the tip of a cutlass was pointed towards her chin. Slowly, she looked up at Jack and sighed with defeat. Jack grinned and turned to look over his shoulder at his dad, "Don't you wish you'd have bet on me now?"

As soon as Jack turned away from her, Vikki swept her foot underneath his feet - knocking him flat onto his back. She then picked up her cutlass and knocked Jacks' out of his hand - pointing hers at his throat and placing her foot on his chest.

"Not really, Jackie." Teague chuckled from his position at the helm.

Jack had to act quickly or else the duel would be over and Vikki would be announced the winner. When the brunette's eyes had darted to her own father, Jack grabbed onto the foot standing on his chest and tugged at it - sending the brunette toppling to the deck with a cry of surprise. Her cutlass clattered to the deck and she landed on her front, Jack quickly sat on her back and pinned her wrists above her head.

"I could do this all night, love." Jack replied, smirking.

"You can't do that!" Vikki protested, pointing out the fact he wasn't using a weapon.

"Oh, right." Jack quickly picked up Vikki's cutlass and held it to her throat. "Now I win." The bell chimed, and as Jack stood up, he sheathed his cutlass and grinned victoriously.

**A/N: Sorry for the late update, but I've been suffering with family issues -_- I wish my father was more like Mr Gibbs or Captain Teague! Reviews will be highly appreciated :) Thank you for reading! xx**


	9. Chapter 9

**Chapter 9**

Just like Captain Teague had stated, the Troubadour arrived in Tortuga within a few days. The crew stepped off of the ship and took in the well missed sights around them: the whores, the brothel and The Faithful Bride. Vikki didn't really have a sight she had missed, but she definitely wanted to avoid some pirates around here, especially the ones she had been seen stealing from. Especially the baker.

Jack stopped walking and held his arms spread wide, greeting the town. "Ah, welcome to Tortuga!" He grinned. Vikki walked past him with Thomas tucked under her arm and Jack was quick to move in front of them, "You'd better be careful." He stated.

"He's fine, Jack." Vikki stated. "I'll look after him."

The pirate smirked and shook his head, "The boy will be fine, Victoria. I was actually talking to you."

The brunette rolled her eyes, "I used to live here."

Jack shrugged, "That doesn't stop any pirate here abducting you does it, love?"

Thomas grinned up at the dreadlocked pirate, "I'll look after her Captain Sparrow."

Jack grinned uneasily, "You do that sailor." He pat the boy on the head before turning on his heel and heading towards the brothel. His collar was grabbed before he could take another step further and he turned his head to see that is was his father, dragging him away from the brothel and taking him towards The Faithful Bride. "Scarlett! Giselle!" He called aloud, hoping that the two whores would hear him and come take him away.

"Sit down, Jackie." Teague gestured towards a wooden stool beside a wooden table. As Jack obeyed his father, Teague ordered two tankards of rum from the gross looking waitress. "Let's talk about these rings."

"Aye," Jack stated, grinning. "I believe I can get them all by me onesy, savvy?"

Teague chuckled and shook his head, handing the waitress two shillings as she came back with two tankards of rum. "We went to go see Tia Dalma, Jackie." He stated, taking a swig of rum before he continued. "You cannot do this alone, she told Victoria that she had a great destiny...and it was to do with the four sacred rings."

"Bloody women." Jack grumbled, they were both silent for a moment; just sipping their tankards of rum.

"She'd make a good wench, Jack." Teague stated. "Both a good fighter, and maternal." Jack raised his eyebrow and turned around to see what his father was looking at. Vikki was sitting with the young boy at a table across from the rest of the crew, the boy was looking at her as if she were his older sister; smiling and laughing with her. "She saved that boy's life. Swung down from the crows nest and jumped into the ocean during a storm." He stated.

"What makes you think I need or want a wench?"

"You're coming close to yer mid-thirties now, Jackie boy." Teague stated. "Your mother and I had you when I was your age now." There was a few moments of silence between them before Teague took a long swig of rum, "When you get the Pearl out from that bottle, take her aboard. I'm sure you'll be needing a crew, and I'm sure she'd want to be with her father. Besides, every pirate needs a wench. Who'd carry on the family name?"

As Teague lifted his tankard - Jack went to take a swig of his own rum and - realising there was nothing left inside but a few drops - Jack lifted the mug to his eyes and stared at it. "I'm going to need more rum." He stated. Suddenly, a woman landed on their table with a thud. She was facing upwards, and the familiar brown hair and ocean blue eyes signified that it was the woman who they had just been discussing not too long ago.

"Sorry, Captain." Innocently and apologetically, she smiled up at Teague.

Before Teague could open his mouth to reply and ask her what she was doing, a pirate roared and footsteps were rapidly headed towards them. Vikki screamed and moved her head to the side, narrowly missing an axe which stabbed the table beside her head with an almighty crack. The brunette moved again to dodge a second axe, but rolled off the table and onto Jack's lap; to which the pirate didn't seem to mind at all. Vikki dropped onto the floor and crawled under the table to get to the other side of The Faithful Bride before jumping onto her feet.

Two more pirates were standing there ready to greet her. They swiped their cutlasses at her, and Vikki jumped onto the table top to dodge them. As she jumped over the blades, she caught sight of the axe thrower. She jumped up and reached for the chandelier, grabbed hold and swinging herself onto the balcony above.

"Should we do something?" Jack mused.

Teague sighed and shook his head before raising his tankard of rum to his lips once again, "She can sort it out herself." Jack winced as the axe thrower launched another weapon towards the female.

Vikki ran down the stairs but stopped dead when six armed pirates cocked their pistols at her. As the brunette turned around again, four more had brandished their swords towards her. She held up her hands and offered an innocent smile, "Parley?"

The surrounding men growled and took a step closer towards her. Jack glanced at his father before rising up from his seat; his empty tankard of rum still in his hand. He stepped in between two of the pirates brandishing pistols and swords and stood beside Vikki, sliding his arm around her waist and pulling her close to his side. "Surely, none of you fine gentlemen would want to shoot such a pretty lass?" He turned around and eyed the swords. "Or stab, right?" He handed his empty tankard to a pirate with a dark blue bandanna.

One of the pirates brandishing a cutlass growled, "Arr, so what d'you s'pose we do with 'er then?"

Jack grinned, "Well obviously you can't just let her go." Vikki looked at him disbelievingly. "But, you can make her apologise for causing a disruption."

"Jack I didn't do anything!" Vikki protested in a whisper.

Jack frowned and looked at her curiously, "You didn't?" Vikki shook her head. "Oh." Captain Sparrow then turned to face the pirates, "It seems as though we have a misunderstanding. Gentlemen, if you would be so kind as make way for us." A pistol was pointed an inch away from his own nose, Jack's smile faltered.

"It ain't a good night without someone bein' shot." The pirate grinned a toothless grin, Jack grimaced.

"Well then, by all means shoot the lady." He gestured towards Vikki as he unsnaked his arm, and pushed her away from his side. "But would you want to be the gentleman to do it?" Vikki tucked a lock of hair behind her ear nervously. The pirates surrounding them hesitated, "Why don't you find someone else to shoot, eh?" Jack slowly stuck his two fingers into the barrels of the pistol and gently lowered the weapon.

"We were going to shoot the boy." The pirate speaking turned to point at Thomas. "But she jus' so happened to get in arr way." He turned to look at the brunette, glaring in her direction.

Everyone lowered their weapons when Teague made his presence known. "I believe I heard the lass speak, parley." The Captain stated, "Play elsewhere gentlemen." He cocked his own pistol, "Or are ye not followin' the Code?" As the band of pirates suddenly uncocked and sheathed their weapons, they turned on their heel and left The Faithful Bride, in search of someone else to shoot.

Vikki sighed with relief but winced when she felt a stinging pain in her left shoulder. "Oh, would you look at that." She stated, gently touching the wound on her arm. She mustn't have dodged one of the axe's thrown at her and hadn't felt it due to the adrenaline rushing around her body. But now, it was fairly painful.

"Jack." Teague stated, "Why don't you go with Victoria to find Mr Smith."

"Mr Smith?" Jack asked.

"The crews doctor." Teague replied.

"It's fine, Jack." Vikki stated, noticing the confused expression on the pirates face. "Sam will come with me."

The dreadlocked pirate watched as the brunette and blonde left The Faithful Bride before he stepped towards the eight-year-old boy and flicked his ear. "I thought you said you would make sure she would stay out of trouble?"

"Ouch!" Thomas put a hand to his stinging ear and glared up at Jack, "But Mr Sparrow - I didn't know what to do!"

"Captain! Captain Sparrow!" Jack placed his hands on his hips and glared at the eight-year-old. "You were trusted man." He stated, "But never mind. Stay here with Mr Roberts while I go and find meself a nice whore." Jack then noticed how young the boy looked and was quick to correct himself, "I mean, a nice woman who can treat a man very nicely." With that, Jack stepped out of The Faithful Bride, and made his way towards the brothel he had seen near to the docks of the port.

Smith had taken an hour to clean, stitch and bandage Vikki's wound. Once he had finished, Vikki and Sam made their way downstairs towards the storage room, to play a few games of Poker. They talked and laughed and shared a few bottles of rum (Vikki was slowly making her way through her first whilst Sam was on his third). The blonde taught the brunette different gambling tips, which Vikki could neither understand or remember.

"If I'm told to win a game of poker or die, I'd just ask them to just shoot me so I don't waste their time." Vikki grumbled.

Sam chuckled, "I'll get you all trained up before that happens." He laid his cards down on the table and grinned at his run of Spades.

The brunette shrugged, "I have one of those run things too." She stated, laying her cards on the table.

Sam's mouth fell open, "You won." He stated, "Royal Flush."

The brunette shrugged, "Alright, let's play one more." As she was about to deal the cards out, Sam got up from his chair and stood beside Vikki's. Wondering what he was doing, Vikki took his outstretched hand in her own and allowed Sam to raise her to her feet. "What are you-" Before she could finish her question, Sam's lips covered hers with her own, and although it was gentle, it didn't make her feel pleasure the same way as Jack did when he had kissed her in Port Royal. "Sam..." She began once his mouth removed itself from her own. "I like you," She began, "I really do but...not in this way."

"I don't care." He stated.

Vikki felt the colour drain from her face when she looked into his eyes. They were so dark with lust and want she felt as though she was about to burn under their intensity. Vikki began to walk away from Sam. She now knew that he was one of the sleazy pirates Buck and Nigel had warned her about all those weeks ago when she had first stepped aboard the Troubadour. Vikki had trusted Sam; believed him to be her friend. She had dismissed the warnings from both Jack and Buck; believing that the two had falsely accused the blonde.

The brunette panicked when she felt her back meet the wooden pole behind her, and she frantically felt around her belt for her knife, shaking upon finding it absent. Sam was suddenly standing flush to the brunette in the blink of an eye. Vikki could feel his body heat radiating from him. She tried to push herself as far into the wooden pole as she could - hoping that she would be able to phase through and get as far away from him as possible.

But that wasn't going to happen unless she was on the Flying Dutchman.

Sam placed his hands on the wooden pole either side of Vikki's waist - keeping her in place. She could no longer escape from him now. Sam smirked, his eyes flickering with lust. He leant closer to Vikki until his lips were almost brushing hers. "You're frightened of me." He chuckled darkly. Vikki wasn't frightened of him; she was terrified. She began to shake; fear washed over her like the ocean waves crashing onto the deck of the Troubadour during a storm. Before Vikki could say anything, Sam crashed his lips onto hers - claiming them as his. The brunette pushed hard against his chest but received a hard, stinging slap across her cheek which made her cry out in pain and shock. Her head was thrown to the side and gave Sam access to her neck; he began to roughly suck and bite at her soft flesh.

"Stop!" She cried out, "Sam I don't want to! Stop!" She found her voice was both weak and vulnerable.

"I believe she said no mate." Vikki's eyes widened when she heard the familiar charming, rugged voice of Jack. Sam lifted his head and turned it in the direction of the Captain's son.

An awkward silence followed, and as the brunette slipped away from Sam, she turned on her heel and ran from the room, too humiliated and embarrassed to look at Jack. She ran down the corridor and onto the main deck. Once there, she took a long, shaky, calming breath of salty sea air. Vikki took a few steps forwards and upon feeling tears well up in her eyes - threatening to fall - she ran towards the rigging of the mast and climbed up to the crows nest. Once at the top, she hugged her knees to her chest and allowed her tears to fall freely and silently.

"I thought I might find you here." Jack stated. Startled, Vikki turned around to face him; she hadn't heard him climb the rigging. Jack climbed over the edge and hopped into the crows nest before taking a seat beside her. They sat in silence for a few moments before a bottle of rum came into the brunette's sight. She looked up at Jack in confusion, her tears dry now. "I'm not any good at comforting crying women." He admitted, "But there's nothing like a spot of rum to cheer you up." As Vikki slowly took the bottle from Jack, he clinked it with his own before taking a swig. "Usually, women like yourself just slap men like that in the face." He grimaced, "Or they go straight for the crown jewels."

Vikki took the unsipped bottle of rum away from her lips and slowly turned to look at the pirate beside her. She sniffed, "Usually I would." She stated. "But he was honest with me." She turned back to face the ocean again. "So I trusted him."

"I feel as though I've said this before, love," Jack began. "But a dishonest man you can always trust to be dishonest. It's the honest ones you want to watch out for, because you can never predict when they're going to do something incredibly stupid." Jack was right and Vikki took a sip of rum and nodded her head, her eyes locked on the magnificent dark sky littered with glinting diamonds. The sight was beautiful, and put Vikki's mind at ease. Being sat up here with Jack made her feel safe and she hoped that she would never be stuck alone with Sam again.

"Thank you Jack." Vikki stated.

"Don't worry about it, love." The dreadlocked pirate replied, "But next time you should listen to my professional opinion." Obviously, that was Jack's way of telling her 'I told you so.'

**A/N: Sam really was one of the sleazy pirates :( I wasn't going to make him one, but I began to like him the more I wrote for him, even tempted to turn the story into an OC/OC fic! So I had to come up with something quickly, and making Sam a sleaze-ball seemed to be the appropriate way xD**

**I hope everyone is enjoying the story so far! My favourite chapters are coming up soon :)**

**Please review xx**


	10. Chapter 10

**Chapter 10**

For the next few days, Vikki had successfully managed to avoid Sam like the plague. She had also taken over Thomas' duty of scrubbing the deck whilst teaching the eight-year-old how to use a cutlass, and the dark haired boy then wanted to mop the deck the same way Vikki did. The brunette was quick to tell him that he would have to get better at his balance and footwork before he even attempted to put the brushes on his feet, which Nigel had overheard and began to laugh; giving his own warning about the boy ending up with a possible broken leg or sprained ankle.

The red haired pirate had taken over the crows nest for those few days and thought it was time that the brunette resumed her own duties instead of him. As he handed over the silver telescope, he said that he would teach Thomas how to fight.

Vikki sighed as Thomas and Nigel walked away. Successfully managing to hide from Sam meant not being in the crows nest as that was the perfect place where the blonde would find her alone. The sad thing about hiding from Sam meant that she didn't see Jack as often as she would have liked, but being on course for the Isla De Muerta meant that Vikki would be going into the cave with Jack and she was happy about spending some time with him in there.

Reluctantly, Vikki made her way towards the mast and as she began to climb the rigging up towards the crows nest, a deep voice caught her attention from behind. "Victoria would you come in here for a second please?" The brunette turned around to look at Teague standing outside the Captain's cabin, the door held open for the female pirate to enter.

She nodded her head before jumping down from the rigging and following the Captain inside, and she took the opportunity to look around. It was strangely tidy, with a large desk in the centre of the room upon a grand maroon and gold rug. A giant map with various objects and other pieces of parchments were scattered across the tabletop along with a few empty bottles of rum standing side by side in a neat line across the top of the map. On the port wall there was a large cabinet with small, thick books stacked neatly on the shelves, along with a large stash of rum bottles on the shelves beneath. On the starboard wall there was a hammock, the floor beneath it was _littered_ with empty bottles. There was a bed in the corner of the room with clean, made sheets with a scruffy looking dog laying across the foot, a ring holding one big key was held in his mouth and the paw of the mutt was resting over a large, thick book; The Code.

"Excuse the mess," Teague stated. "Jack stays in here." He chuckled. "Take a seat." He gestured towards the wooden chair on one side of the table before walking around to the other side and picking up a pair of compasses and examining the map. "A little sparrow has told me that Sam has been causing you some trouble." Teague began.

'_Sparrow._' Vikki thought, rolling her eyes. '_I wonder who that is._' The brunette nodded her head, "Aye, Captain."

"I have decided to drop him off at the next island." Vikki remembered what Teague had told her about how he performed mutinies: _'I only mutiny someone if they have done something remotely insulting to either meself or someone of my crew.'_ "And I wanted to let you know beforehand."

Vikki shook her head, "Please don't do that Captain." She stated, "I don't wish a mutiny on anyone."

Teague looked up from his map, "You're too kind, Victoria." He stated. "If he had held you at gunpoint, would you still defend him now?" Victoria remained silent, not knowing how to answer him. "I have made my decision. I don't want anyone like him as part of me crew." Vikki nodded in understanding, but felt guilty - she was going to kill Jack for telling the Captain. "We should be coming close to the Isla De Muerta, I'd like you to return to the crows nest for now."

"Aye, Captain." Vikki rose to her feet and turned for the door.

"If Sam lands anymore surprise attacks upon you again, you have permission to shoot him."

Tucking a lock of hair behind her ear nervously, Vikki reached for the door handle. "Aye, Captain." She then left the Captain's cabin and as she closed the door behind her, she ran into Jack.

The dreadlocked pirate smirked, "Looking for me, love?"

Vikki placed her hands on her hips and scowled at him, "Actually, I was." She raised her hand and cracked it across his cheek, sending his head reeling to the right. Slowly, he brought it back round to face her and a look of surprise, shock and confusion crossed his face all at once. "Sam's going to be mutinied."

"Good riddance to the whelp." Jack replied, turning around and walking up to the helm of the Troubadour.

"It's not right!" Vikki followed him and stood on the other side of the golden wheel to Jack, facing him. "No one deserves to be mutinied! Especially on an island in the middle of the ocean - I was lucky to be dropped of at a port!"

"He has a reason to be mutinied." Jack stated, looking past the brunettes head and out towards the sea. "I on the other hand didn't."

The anger and frustrated deflated from the brunette, "You were mutinied?"

Jack nodded, "By me old first mate."

"Barbossa." Vikki stated.

"Who told you that?" Jack asked, frowning as he looked at the brunette.

"My father told me about the years he's spent with you." She replied softly. "In vague detail." Jack grinned. Oh how he loved to tell women of his adventures at sea! But not the one of his mutinous first mate.

Remembering where she was supposed to be, Vikki left the helm and descended the steps onto the main deck. She reached the rigging attached to the mast and began to climb up to the crows nest. As she stepped into the nest and relieved the pirate who was in there, Vikki pulled out her telescope and frowned at the oncoming fog. "Jack?" She called down to the helm. "Are we going in circles?"

"I don't like circles." Jack replied. "Too round. You see the same things again and again-"

"Jack!" Vikki rolled her eyes impatiently. "We're coming towards more fog, what if we get attacked by another Ganderberunda?"

The dreadlocked pirate smirked, "It means were close to the Isla De Muerta, love." He replied. "We shall be going into the cave to find the third sacred ring, and I shall be the one to bring it back to the ship." Victoria rolled her eyes at his stubbornness. "Don't roll your eyes at me, love. They're my rings."

As the hatch opened and the blonde pirate stepped out onto the deck, Vikki shrunk lower in the crows nest. If he came anywhere near the rigging, she was going to have to re-join Jack at the helm...but then there would be no one manning the crows nest.

"I wouldn't go up there if I were you, whelp." Jack stated.

Sam turned to face the pirate at the helm. "Oh yeah? And who's going to stop me?"

Jack pulled his pistol out from it's holster. "I've been given permission to shoot you if you go anywhere near Victoria."

Sam paused to think for a moment, "I actually came to apologise to her." Vikki frowned, perhaps he was being honest? She then recalled what Jack had said to her: '_A dishonest man you can always trust to be dishonest. It's the honest ones you ought to watch out for..._' She gasped when a face appeared beside her in the crows nest, and the pirate who usually did the nightly duty of manning the crows nest sent Vikki a toothy grin. He was a mute, and Vikki nodded to him before climbing over the side of the nest - the opposite side Sam was standing on. She began to slowly climb down the rigging, making sure the blonde didn't walk round to her side.

Once her feet reached the deck, she looked round the side of the mast to see Sam walking back towards the hatch. Sighing with relief, the brunette walked towards the railings of the ship to sit on a barrel and look out to the ocean.

"Vikki?" A small voice asked from beside the brunette. "I can't sleep." Thomas stood beside her rubbing his eyes.

Motherly impulse kicked in as Vikki pulled the eight-year-old boy onto her lap, "What's wrong?" She asked.

"I dreamt about the attack." He mumbled into her shoulder. "It was dark and stormy and the gunfire was really loud."

She shushed him gently and rocked him back and forth. "It's alright." She whispered, "You're safe now. I'll look after you." A thought came to Vikki as she looked down at the child on her lap, "Tom?" She asked. "Did you see the name of the ship that attacked you?"

The small boy shook his tired head, "It didn't have a flag on it." He grumbled, "But they were pirates."

"OK," Vikki stated softly. "What else did you notice about the ship?"

Tom yawned and started to bite his thumbnail, "There was a wooden fish person on the front of it. Like a mermaid...but it was a man."

"OK," Vikki said again, continuing to rock the boy. "Just imagine being a great pirate and commandeering that ship." Thomas smiled softly and nodded his head against her shoulder and it wasn't long until the young boy had fallen to sleep again.

Vikki didn't sleep that night, and as the sun rose in the sky, she gently shook Thomas and allowed him to wake up before she ushered him to go below deck to awaken Buck and Nigel. The brunette then stretched her legs before standing up and raising her arms towards the sky to stretch out all her limbs. It wasn't very hot that morning, but she climbed the rigging to relieve the pirate manning the crows nest of his nightly duties before scouting the sea for any signs that the Isla De Muerta was close. Upon seeing mounds of rocks, she let Jack know.

The dreadlocked pirate checked his compass before smirking, they had arrived at the Isla De Muerta and were about to find the third sacred ring. "You're mine." Jack snapped his compass closed before stomping his foot three times to wake up his father from his cabin. "Wake up you old codfish!"

Teague stepped up to the helm and steered his son away from the helm so that he could take over his rightly duties. "All hands on deck!" Teague called out as the crew poured out from the hatch one after another like ants from an ant hill.

The Troubadour sailed through two narrow rocks before the fog finally cleared. Vikki grabbed hold of the rope and jumped down from the crows nest before walking towards Buck who was ordering a few crew members to lower a boat into the water. She held the pulley and eased the rope through so the boat was lowered slowly and carefully into the deep blue ocean below. Nigel stepped into the boat and helped the brunette inside, and as they waited for Jack, Vikki caught sight of beautiful gold shimmers in the water.

Captain Sparrow soon stepped into the longboat, and as Nigel rowed them towards the shore, the three of them sat in silence until the boat reached the cave. Jack and Vikki got out and watched the red haired pirate row back to the Troubadour.

"Looks like it's just us two now, love." Jack stated, making his way into the dark cave behind them. Vikki turned on her heel once the longboat was out of sight, and followed Jack into the cave. They walked through a few dark tunnels before a blinding light shimmered and reflected off the cave walls like glass and mirrors. Vikki's jaw dropped open as she looked upon piles and piles of gold, jewels and priceless artefacts. She picked up a golden monkey and stared at it in wonder.

"No looting." Jack stated, "We're only here to find the ring."

"How are we going to find a ring in here?" Vikki exclaimed, throwing the statue to the side.

"Well," Jack began. "As everything in here is made of gold, I think the answer you're looking for is: very difficult."

Vikki wrinkled her eyebrows, "what if the ring is silver? Tia Dalma did say it was unique."

Jack smirked, "I doubt it. The other two were gold." He threw aside a handful of gold coins. "Which would mean that all of them are gold." He turned around to look at her and saw her perched on a rock with her legs crossed. He sauntered over too her and took a seat on the rock beside her, "Love, my tremendous intuitive of the female creature is telling me that you are troubled." Vikki slowly turned her head to look at him and slowly pointed to the ceiling. Jack looked up to see a black rocky ceiling with a small silver glint. "Would you look at that." He stated in awe. "It is silver."

"More to the point." Vikki stated, "How do we get it down? I mean, I could try and climb but...I don't want to die if I fall." She looked around for a rock to start off with. Surely she could just find out the route as it took her along, right? Vikki ignored Jack as she got up from her spot and walked over to one of the rocks in the corner. She could hear him talking as he followed her across the gold littered floor, but her mind was so focused on the rocky wall she drowned him out.

"...should you fall to your death, savvy?" Jack suddenly appeared in front of her, and Vikki stopped suddenly in surprise.

She frowned and looked up at him, "What?"

Jack furrowed his brows before smirking. "Nothing. You go right ahead, love." He moved aside and swept his hand towards the rock in a gentlemanly fashion.

Vikki began to climb the rock, finding a few jutted stones which she was able to grab onto and to put her feet on. Jack watched her curiously and turned around upon hearing footsteps the other side of the cave. Thinking it best if he hid, he left Victoria to climb the rocky wall as he hid behind a large pile of gold. As he looked up to see how far the brunette had climbed, his eyes widened upon seeing her sitting on a ledge close to the ceiling about a foot or two away from the silver ring.

Voices then echoed around the cave - none of them recognisable from anyone aboard the Troubadour. Vikki's eyes widened at the sound of voices and she took a step closer towards the edge and reached out towards the ring. She could touch it with a fingertip and she was stretching so much that her limbs ached and burned. Vikki retracted her hand from the ring and moved back against the rocky wall as a handful of broad pirates stepped into the cave.

"'Ere we arr mateys!" A white bearded one stated, "Isla De Muerta! Take what ye can, load up arr Merman!"

Vikki scoured the cave for any sign of Jack, but upon finding no dreadlocked pirate in sight, she sighed. Of course he wouldn't warn her about anyone coming into the cave - he would save his own skin.

"Excuse me, gentlemen." Her mouth fell open when she spotted the pirate swaggering towards the looters. "But have you seen me wench? She seems to have...vanished. Would you all be so kind as to help me look for her?"

'_What in God's name was he doing?_' Vikki watched in disbelief as Jack led the group of pirates out of the cave. Frowning, Vikki drew her cutlass and tried to thread it through the ring in the rock. Once the tip was threaded, Vikki beamed with pride. She tried to move the cutlass downwards to dislodge the ring from the ceiling, but when she did, the ring slid off the end of the cutlass, and as Vikki leant forwards to try and catch it, she toppled off the ledge and plunged into the stream below her.

**A/N: Thank you to everyone who has reviewed!**

**I have now left my job at Pinewood :( It is an hour drive from my house and I hate getting up early! I only saw a few celebrities, but unfortunately none were Orlando Bloom or Johnny Depp :(**

**Anyways, I hope you all enjoyed the chapter! The next one is my favourite, and I hope you like it! xx**


	11. Chapter 11

**Chapter 11**

So that Victoria would have some spare time to get the ring, Jack was pretending to look for the brunette with the other pirates, who had seemed to be a lot thicker than he had thought them to be. One of them (the biggest of the bunch) held up a rock before dropping it and shaking his head, "I can't find 'er under 'ere, Cap'n Sparra." He stated.

"I wonder why that is." Jack mumbled. A scream and a splash from inside the cave caught everyone's attention and the group of pirates all turned to face Jack.

"Do ye think that's 'er?" The one Jack assumed to be the Captain stated.

"Probably just a monkey." Jack stated innocently, continuing to examine the pile of gold beside him.

"Monkey's don' sound like tha'." The thickest of the lot stated.

"Shut it, Crugg!" The Captain snapped. The group began walking into the cave and stopped upon the sight of the drenched brunette walking towards them.

"Do you know how long I've been looking for you?" Vikki asked, grabbing Jack's hand.

Jack grinned at her touch, thinking that she had finally warmed up to him. But he then frowned upon feeling something small and solid being pressed into his palm. Upon realising what it was, Jack then turned to the handful of pirates. "Well, gentlemen." He began, "As you can see, I've found me wench and I shall now leave you to loot to your hearts content." As he turned around, he stared at seven cutlasses brandished towards him.

"I don't think ye were 'ere lookin' for that fine lass." The bearded one stated slyly, narrowing his eyes suspiciously.

"That's fine." Jack stated, slipping the silver ring onto his finger and pushing Victoria away from him. "She's not me wench. I don't have a wench and I don't want one! You can have her!" He turned around as if to move away again, but the cutlasses didn't move out of his way.

"I think ye and yer wench were stealin' our loot from us!"

"She's not me wench!" Jack insisted, "And..._technically_." He stretched the word, "We were here first, so that makes you"- He pointed towards each of them -"Stealing _our_ loot. Now, if you'll excuse us-"

"Yer comin' aboard the Merman." The bearded one growled, "Throw 'im in the brig..." He ran his fingers through Vikki's long brown hair, "But ye can stay in me cabin if ye'd rather?"

Vikki eyed him up and down with a grimace, "I'd rather go in the brig." She stated. The bearded man scowled and growled before cracking his hand across Vikki's cheek, sending the brunette spiralling roughly into Jack.

Their hands were manacled and they were rowed towards a ship with no flying colours. Vikki frowned, Thomas had told her last night that the pirate ship that had attacked him and his family had no flag...and Vikki's thoughts that this was the pirate ship was confirmed when she saw the sculpture of a wooden, male mermaid at the head of the ship. The carving was beautiful and the ship must had cost a fortune! Each scale on the fishtail was carved individually, the merman had a short curly beard and held a trident in his hand. Adorning his head was a crown of wooden coral. The wear and tear from the water eroding the sculpture away gave character to the ship and Vikki estimated the ship to be very old.

As they were thrown into the brig of the Merman, Vikki rubbed her sore cheek with her hand. She turned to face Jack who had seated himself on the bench in the brig, his hat tipped over his eyes. Vikki thought him to be trying to sleep; but the pirate was far from it. Jack kept his eyes trained on the brunette pacing back and fourth in front of him. Eventually, Victoria took a seat on the small bench beside the dreadlocked pirate.

"Any bright ideas?" She asked.

"Oh, yes." Jack stated, "I'm always full of them."

Vikki blinked, "Well? Any which are helpful now?"

"Be patient, love." He stated. As silence fell over the two, Jack decided that he would find something to talk about. He glanced up at her and upon seeing the cheek the pirate had backhanded her across still slightly red, Jack found himself wanting to reach up and tenderly caress it. "How's your cheek?"

"Fine." Vikki replied shortly.

They both looked towards the door to their cell as a pirate descended the stairs into the brig, "Excuse me," Jack called towards him. "Where are we heading?"

"Tortuga." The pirate stated, smirking at the brunette. "Yer being sold, lovey." He stated, grinning lustfully at her.

"Thanks." Vikki stated rolling her eyes, "Let me know how much will you?"

The pirate glared at her before moving on his way. Once he was gone, Vikki lost her calm demeanour, "Jack do something!" She gripped the front of his jacket and shook him. "I don't want to be sold! I'm still young!"

"Calm down, love!" Jack exclaimed, prying her small hands from his person. "When I think of a plan, I shall get us out of here." He stated, "In the meantime, just let me think." A hissing noise caught both their attentions, and they looked down to see a long, thin black snake slithering into the cell from underneath their bench.

Vikki's breath hitched in her throat and she brought her feet onto the bench. Spiders and snakes were the main things the brunette feared. Jack grimaced at the reptile before making sweeping hand gestures towards it from his seat on the bench, "Shoo." He stated. "Go away."

As it slithered closer towards the edge of the cage, a jangling noise was audible as a scrawny dog with bald patches trotted past; with a set of keys dangling from it's mouth. It dropped the keys before attacking the snake with it's large paw and dragging it closer towards the bars of the brig. It then began to devour the reptile hastily.

Vikki's eyes were as wide as saucers as she watched on in horror. "I have never loved an animal more in my life." She stated. But as the dog picked the keys up again and ran away, she pouted, "Maybe not." Another guard appeared this time, a younger looking one with light tousled hair and lean muscles. "Right," Vikki stated. "I'm getting us out of here."

Jack smirked in disbelief, "And how're you going to do that, love?" He asked. "The keys've run off."

Vikki grinned in response, and ripped the first three buttons from her shirt, sending small fragments scattering across the floor of the brig. "I have something you don't have." She stated, climbing to her feet to lounge against the bars of the cell.

The young guard walked past and looked towards the sad, innocent girl in the brig and began to feel slightly uncomfortable. He slowly approached her, "What's wrong?" He asked.

Vikki sighed dramatically and pouted, "It's just." Jack watched them and listened in on their conversation. "I'm so...lonely." The pirate made a gesture towards Jack at the back of the brunette's cell, which caused the dreadlocked pirate to smirk in response as it looked like her plan was failing. "Eunuch." She stated simply. Jack's mouth fell open in shock, and he raised his eyes from the brunette's cleavage to her face to glare at her venomously. The brunette pushed herself further into the bars of the cell and captivated the eyes of the pirate. "Please," She begged. "Just ten minutes, that's all I need...and I'm sure you need it too."

"But..." The pirate began. Vikki batted her long eyelashes at him seductively and innocently, and this caused him to sigh with defeat. "Alright, fine." He stated, "But only for ten minutes - and no trying to escape!"

Jack's mouth dropped open as the guard called the dog towards him and took the set of keys from the mutt. He unlocked the cell door, and grasped the brunette's manacles as he re-locked the door again before leading her down the corridor and out of Jack's sight.

A couple of minutes later, Jack heard the rushing of footsteps coming along the corridor of the brig. He gaped again as Victoria appeared, the keys to the cell in her cuffed hands.

"Did you forget to get unmanacled?"

"Didn't think about it." She replied, struggling with the key. "He was too handsy." She grimaced before handing the keys to Jack whilst she tried slipping her wrists out of the irons.

"You don't know handsy yet, love." Jack mumbled, his eyes wandering towards her cleavage again.

"What?"

"Nothing!" Tearing his eyes from her chest, Jack finally managed to unlock his cell. He stepped in front of the brunette and growled in her ear, "I'm not a eunuch."

Vikki rolled her eyes, "At least my plan worked!" She defended herself. "A little help here?" She gestured towards her handcuffs and Jack span on his heel and frowned at them.

Walking over, he picked up the ring of many keys. "Do you want to stand around and find the right one?" He asked. "Or do you think it would be much wiser to get out of here?"

"Good point." Vikki stated, jogging beside him to go towards the hull.

They had to be careful that they didn't make any noise as they came out of the brig, as water covered the floor and dripped from the walls. It smelled dank and it was very dark and dreary. They grabbed their effects from the pegs at the end of the corridor before opening the door a crack to check if the coast was clear. Jack's eyes widened as a guard was moving towards their door and he turned on his heel, gesturing for Vikki to turn around and run like her life depended on it. So she did. Straight into Crugg.

"What're yer doin' out o' yer cell?" He asked, scratching the back of his head.

Jack and Vikki looked up at the tall, fat pirate and gulped. "We're part of your crew!" Jack spread his arms out wide.

Vikki looked at Jack in disbelief, "I know he's thick Jack, but do you really think he's going to buy that?"

Two big hands grasped them by their shoulders and they were picked up from the floor and carried onto the main deck. "Apparently not." He replied.

"Mr Cap'n, Sir!" Crugg called up to the bearded man at the helm of the Merman. "They were out o' their cell."

The bearded man stepped down from the helm and towards Vikki and Jack who were still dangling from Crugg's big hands. "How did they escape?" The Captain pondered, he looked towards Jack who was pointing the finger at the brunette and the Captain looked down at the missing buttons of her shirt. "I thought it'd be yer wit, Cap'n Sparra..." He chuckled, "But it turns out yer wench is a whore."

Vikki gasped, completely offended. "It was actually the most gullible of your guards." Vikki tried to look behind her and around at the crew; looking for the guard who was going to get into trouble. "Him!" She pointed to the lean, tousled haired boy stepping onto the deck, rubbing the back of his head gingerly.

"What'd she do t'yer?" The Captain asked the guard Vikki had pointed towards.

"Hit me over the head with her manacles, Cap'n." The lad replied. "After she seduced me."

The Captain smirked, "A smart wench ye got there, Cap'n Sparra."

Jack grinned, "Why thank you." As the Captain began speaking again, Jack frowned. Had he just thanked him? Crugg then released Vikki and the Captain pushed her towards the light haired guard, "Oi!" Jack called out. "What d'you think you're doing?" He exclaimed.

The Captain raised his hand, ordering the crew to halt. "She seduced me boy and didn't finish the job." The bearded pirate grinned, his black teeth covered in spittle and grime. "I'm doin' 'im a favour."

"Ye can't." Jack stated. "She's my wench."

The grin on the Captain's face grew before turning into a smirk, "If she truly yer wench, ye be married right now."

"What?" Both Victoria and Jack stated monotonely.

"I'll even marry ye both, meself." He grinned again. "If not," He cocked a pistol and pointed it towards Vikki's head, causing the brunettes ocean blue eyes to widen before closing tightly. "I'll shoot ye both, startin' with 'er."

Jack shrugged, "No." He stated simply. No way was this pirate going to forcefully tie him down to someone!

"Wait!" Vikki cried out as the Captain began to squeeze the trigger. "I'm not keen on the idea either Jack, but I don't want to die this way!"

Jack turned back to face the rotten toothed pirate, "Throw her overboard instead." He stated.

"Jack," Vikki whispered. "It's unlawful anyway. It won't count - and we won't tell anyone or speak of it again!"

Jack seemed to ponder her statement for a while before shaking his head again, "Throw her overboard." He said with certainty.

"And ye can live with ye'self can ye? After throwing yer wench to the sea?"

Jack nodded eagerly, "Yeah, I can live with it." Vikki's mouth fell open in shock.

"It's a shame to be losing someone so fine tho Cap'n!" Someone from the crew behind called out. "It's too pretty to throw to Davy Jones' locker!"

Vikki turned around and glared at the pirate, "It?" She growled.

Jack leant towards the brunette, "Don't make this worse for yourself, love."

Vikki glared at him, "I'm going to die anyway!" She snapped. Jack shrugged before resuming his original posture. Vikki glared at him before turning to the bearded Captain, "Kill _him_ first." She stated. "And make it slow and painful!"

He grinned in response, "That's how I like me women." He grabbed her chin in his hand and forcefully turned her head side to side as if examining her features.

"Oi!" Jack exclaimed. "You're suppossed to be killing her, not dirtying her pretty face up!"

The Captain frowned at Jack before removing his gnarly fingers from Victoria. "Men," He began. "I've had a change o' heart." Jack and Vikki glanced at each other in confusion. Hopefully this was going to work out in their favour. "We'll drop 'em off on an island and they can die together." A round of applause erupted from the entire crew as Jack and Vikki were pushed towards the railings of the Merman. "But they may die in holy matrimony." Once again there were a round of 'ahh's' from the crew.

"I think I've had a change of heart too." Vikki stated, glaring at Jack. "I'd rather be thrown overboard, at least that way I can swim."

"It's alright, love." Jack stated. "We can still say no."

The Captain cocked his pistol and pointed it towards Jack's lower region, causing the dreadlocked pirate's eyes to widen and gulp in fear.

**A/N: Thank you to everyone who has been following the story, and a special thank you to those who have reviewed :) I really hope you are enjoying the story!**

**I hope you all had a very Merry Christmas and that you have a very good New Year! Have a drink for me! xx**


	12. Chapter 12

**Chapter 12**

As Vikki and Jack walked the plank and dove into the clear blue ocean, the crew aboard _The_ _Merman_ suffered with bouts of laughter. "Think o'it as an 'oneymoon!" The Captain called, taking off his hat and waving it towards them as the ship began to sail away from the two pirates in the water.

Vikki glared at the Captain's back before swimming towards the island she had been mutinied upon with Jack, and as she reached the beach she fell onto the sand and looked up at the sun sitting high and regal in the sky. "I bet you're happy." She glared at the golden orb, shielding hers eyes from the bright rays. "You're too free for my liking." She pulled out her pistol and pointed it towards the gloating fire before pulling the trigger, only to hear the gun click due to having wet powder. Where was Jack?

Vikki looked along the beach to see the dreadlocked pirate standing just beyond the reach of the waves, his arm held out towards the air as he looked at his hand with a frown of confusion plastered across his face. "I feel..." He began. "Different."

Vikki sighed and turned away from the pirate. She felt like she was about to cry, but she didn't want to - not in front of Jack anyway. Instead of crying, Vikki got to her feet and began walking along the beach of the island - leaving Jack behind her. There was no way they were actually married...the Captain of _The Merman_ was a pirate after all - it was completely unlawful! As long as they didn't sleep together, the marriage would be null and void...that is if the marriage was legal - which it wasn't. Vikki continued to tell herself that everything was alright as she walked around the beach, and upon nearly walking into Jack, she did a double take.

"This island isn't very big." She stated matter-of-factly. She stepped around the pirate, who was still looking at himself strangely, and continued along the beach. As she walked halfway around again, she decided to take a wonder into the small forest situated in the centre of the island...perhaps there was some food in there? Vikki wandered away from the beach and into the trees. Sand turned into grass and grass turned into something slippery. Frowning, Vikki looked down and feasted her eyes upon the biggest snake she had ever seen.

Jack continued examining his hand, he felt...different somehow, but he couldn't quite put a stamp on it. Yes, he was illegally married but...nope, that was definitely the reason. Upon hearing a scream, Jack snapped out of his thoughts and looked around the beach for his...wife.

"This island isn't very big." He stated.

Vikki screamed again, and Jack clumsily pulled out his pistol and held it threateningly in front of him, looking out for any danger that was creeping up on him. His eyes fell on the forest, and he concluded that the brunette was in there somewhere. Cautiously, he walked into the trees, on his guard. He came to a small clearing in the trees and his eyes widened upon seeing a huge boaconstrictor. It was curling up the trunk of one of the trees, and that was where the source of the screaming was coming from. Jack looked up towards the top of the tree to see Victoria clutching to a bunch of banana's at the top.

Perhaps if he backed away slowly he wouldn't be spotted, and his forced marriage problem would be solved.

"Jack!"

Bugger, now he had to kill the snake before she was eaten.

He cocked his pistol, and his eyes filled with dread when it clicked instead of fired. He grinned up at the brunette, "Sorry, love!" He called. "Wet powder."

"Jack, look out!"

The dreadlocked pirate turned around and shouted in fear, he turned on his heel and began to run back towards the beach; the giant snake hot on his heels. Vikki slid down the tree and drew her cutlass before taking off after Jack and the snake.

The brunette stopped dead in her tracks, and screamed in shock once the head of the boaconstrictor exploded. "'Bout time!" Jack exclaimed, slapping Teague on the shoulder with relief. The Captain of the _Troubadour_ lowered his shotgun and smirked at his son.

"Ye know I'm never late, Jackie." Teague chuckled. "Now get in the boat, did ye get the ring?" Jack and Vikki exchanged a worried glance before giving each other a warning look, telling the other to speak. "Well?"

"We kind of," Vikki tucked a lock of hair behind her ear nervously. "Lost it to the Captain of _The Merman._"

"How?" Teague turned to face his son.

Jack grinned uneasily, "You know pirates." He stated, breaking into song. "They pillage, they plunder, they ravage and loot-"

"-Drink up me hearties, yo ho." Teague rolled his eyes and rested his shotgun against his shoulder. "We'll catch up to the ship. Make haste." As the three got into the boat, Buck began to row them back towards the _Troubadour_ which was anchored a little way away from them and as soon as they made it back to the ship, they were welcomed back by the crew and were ordered straight away to get back to their duties.

It was another couple of hours before the _Troubadour_ caught up with _The Merman_, and both Vikki and Jack had not so much as even looked at each other. Well, Vikki looked at Jack from her spot up in the crows nest and she was a little disappointed that he hadn't come up to see her.

She pulled out her telescope and alerted Teague that they were gaining on _The Merman_ and stayed put in the crows nest for the meanwhile, keeping out of the way of the scurrying crew on the main deck. Vikki had also spotted Sam down there aswell, and did not want to accidentally run into him. She'd thought about running into him accidentally on purpose just to get Jack's attention, but then she didn't want Sam to be shot...but perhaps being shot would be nicer than leaving him on an island to die? Vikki shook the thought out of her head, she didn't have enough space in there right at that moment to think of anything else other than what was going to happen when the battle between the two ships commenced...that and thinking about Jack.

The _Troubadour_ was now aligned with _The Merman_, and as soon as Vikki got the chance, she swung down from the crows nest and placed her hand on her pistol, waiting for the Captain's orders.

The Captain of _The Merman_ stepped up to the railing's of his ship and eyed the _Troubadour_ admiringly. "Nice ship ye got there." He stated.

Teague also stepped up to the railing, "As do ye. Where are ye colours?" He asked.

"I have no colours." The Captain narrowed his eyes.

Teague shook his head, "Then I believe ye to not be followin the Code. And as I am Keeper of the Code, I'm willing to let ye off on a warning, on the condition that ye give back something ye took from my son."

"Sparra." _The Merman_ Captain glared at the dreadlocked pirate as he stepped up to stand beside his father. "'Tis not possible."

"Not probable." Jack corrected. "Now, would you be so kind as to return me ring?"

The Captain looked down at his hand before pulling off the fine piece of silver, diamond and pearl before eyeing it carefully. "I don't think ye be the one t' be askin' the questions 'ere." Cannons were pushed forwards on the Starboard side of _The Merman_ - facing the _Troubadour_. "Now," The Captain drew his cutlass. "Arr ye goin' t' come an' get it?"

Jack swayed before turning to look at his father, "Shall we?" He gestured towards _The Merman_, and Teague nodded in response.

"Aye."

What followed next was the roaring of pirates as half _The Merman_ crew swung across to the _Troubadour_ and half of Teague's crew swung over towards _The Merman_. Clashing of blades, firing of pistols and smashing glass followed soon after as both crews boarded the others ship. Jack dove for the ring in between the fingers of _The Merman's _ Captain, and narrowed his eyes when the bearded man clashed blades with him instead. The dreadlocked pirate took a step back, "How about we negotiate?" He asked innocently. "If you give me the ring, then we shall not inflict to much damage upon your ship. You go free, your men go free and we can all forget this all happened, savvy?"

The bearded Captain shook his head, and continued to parry and dodge Jack's cutlass with his own.

Vikki had managed to not draw her cutlass at all, and she was proud of not being spotted beside the mast. She shot any pirates that came towards her with her re-loaded pistol, and it wasn't long until she decided to swing over towards _The Merman_. Halfway through her swing, a bullet was shot at her; narrowly missing her head. She turned and aimed her pistol towards her attacker, but gasped as he fired another shot through the rope she was holding onto. Vikki screamed as she fell into the deep blue ocean below and grabbed hold of some driftwood to keep herself above the water. The brunette frowned upon realising that whatever she was holding onto was too soft to be counted as driftwood. She flipped the body over and screamed again when she realised it to be the dead body of the guard she had seduced whilst her and Jack were in the brig of _The Merman_.

Avoiding the battle, Vikki swam to the other side of _The Merman_ before starting to climb the rigging. She stopped and held on tightly as a body was thrown overboard and she paused for a moment to look down and watch them fall into the ocean beside her with a huge splash. Once she was positive he wasn't going to grab her ankle, Vikki continued upwards and looked left and right to check that the coast was clear before she hopped over the railings and onto the deck of the ship. She eyed the rope from the mast carelessly tied by one of the retards of _The Merman's_ crew and smiled as a plan began to form in her head. She picked up the end of the rope in her left hand whilst holding her pistol in her right, and casually weaving the rope in and out of _Merman_ crew members' legs and some of the spindles in the railing.

_The Merman's_ Captain dropped the silver ring and both him and Jack dove for it; crawling after the diamond as it rolled across the main deck. It hit someone's boot and a small, feminine hand picked it up and cocked a pistol at the Captain's head before aiming to fire. As soon as she squeezed the trigger, someone grabbed her wrist and pointed her arm into the air just before the shot was fired.

There was a flurry of white feathers as a bird fell dead onto the deck.

Vikki stomped on the one-legged pirates only foot before elbowing him in the jaw and knocking him overboard. As Jack and _The Merman's_ Captain got into another brawl, Victoria continued on with her weaving, and upon realising that the majority of the crew from the _Troubadour_ were being rounded up, she made herself scarce.

As Crugg came up behind Jack and quickly captured him in his arms, a few other crew members ran over and began to drag the pirate towards the mast where the majority of the other _Troubadour_ members were being tied up.

The Captain of _The Merman_ walked around his captives; grinning. His smile faltered however when he noticed one of Teague's crew members to be missing. "Where is Mrs Sparra?" He asked.

The _Troubadour_ crew looked at each other with confused expressions clearly plastered on their faces. Jack began to twiddle his thumbs and whistle as he looked around the deck of the ship to avoid eye contact with anyone, especially Mr Gibbs. The faintest sound of tightening rope was audible to everyone's eardrums and both crews began to look around for the source of the noise. Vikki ducked down in _The Merman's_ crows nest, slowly tightening the rope of the mast. It was a very tough job, and the rope would have to be pulled pretty tight for her plan to work. Something suddenly snapped, and Vikki screamed as she was pulled into the air and flung around the mast of the ship. She finally came to a stop, dangling upside down a foot above the main deck by her ankle. A smile spread across her face upon realising that her plan had worked and the rope she was dangling from had taken out the majority of _The Merman_ crew. The only men remaining were the Captain, his broad shouldered first mate and a couple of other pirates and the brunette quickly drew her cutlass and slashed the rope holding her hostage before flipping to her feet and preparing to fight. There was one man between her and the crew, but before she could get to him, her legs were swept from underneath her and she landed on the deck with a harsh sounding thump, and a slight crack which caused a few _Troubadour_ crew members to cringe upon hearing it.

Believing that she may have sprained her left wrist, Vikki winced and rolled onto her back, she raised her cutlass in time to block an attack from a pirate with a red parrot on his shoulder. Vikki kicked him away before running back towards the tied up crew. Wincing again due to the pain in her wrist, she slashed at the rope and managed to cut one of the three trapping the _Troubadour_ crew. She dodged the pirates of _The Merman_, trying to reach her crew again.

"Don't let yerselves get beat by a woman!" The rotten toothed Captain replied. "Catch that mutt!"

Growling, Vikki pulled out her pistol and aimed it at the Captain before pulling the trigger. He jumped out of the way, and gave Vikki an opportunity to slice away the second rope holding the crew. And that was all they needed; they swarmed _The Merman_ and disposed of all the other pirates aboard, only leaving the Captain and his first mate alive.

"I think we should tie them in holy matrimony and throw them on an island to die." Vikki growled, cradling her agonising wrist.

"I like that idea." Jack agreed stepping forwards and cocking his pistol, pointing it towards the Captains lower region as he nodded his head to the first mate. "Do you take this man to be-"

Teague chuckled and placed a hand on his sons shoulder, leading him away. "-We'll talk later, Jackie." He stated. Teague quickly disposed of the first mate before gesturing for his crew to board the _Troubadour_ again. "A Captain always goes down with his ship." He smirked, "Take what ye can men," He stated, turning away from the frightened man hog tied to the helm of _The Merman_. "Then load the cannons!"

"Load the cannons, aye!" The crew chorused.

Vikki stared at the rope in front of her, wondering how she was going to swing herself over. A hand appeared on her wrist and she looked up into the eyes of Jack. She couldn't read his eyes, but he was gently examining her wrist. He then frowned, and Vikki could feel his hands moving down her forearm towards the strip of gauze she wore. She held her breath as he untied the bandage from her wrist, she expected him to grimace, but he didn't. Instead, he rolled up his own sleeve and held his own forearm beside hers, "Snap." He stated.

Vikki looked down to see that Jack also had a 'P' branded onto his skin. She hadn't seen her own since it had become infected, fearing to go to a doctor and show anyone she had tended to it herself. But looking at it now, Vikki could only see scars around the edge of the letter when she had cut the infection out, they were no more than faint pink lines now. Jack used the strip of gauze to wrap around the brunettes wrist for support, he then snaked his arm around her waist and swung them both over to the _Troubadour_.

Gibbs then came running towards them, "Vik." He stated. "Where do ye get yer ideas from?"

Realising that her father was referring to the idea of marrying the Captain of _The Merman_ and his first mate, Vikki's eyes widened and she tucked a lock of hair behind her ear nervously. She shrugged, "Don't know. Something from Tortuga." She smiled at him innocently before skipping off towards Thomas the other side of the deck.

Jack watched the brunette escape from him with interest, if that question had been aimed at him he probably would've given his 'dishonest man' speech. "Mr Gibbs!" Jack stated. "Where is the whelp?"

"What whelp?"

"What whelp?" Jack frowned at his first mate before spotting the blonde over the man shoulder. "That whelp!" Jack then left Mr Gibbs behind.

"Father," Vikki began, walking towards him with the young boy. "This is Thomas."

"Yer not trying to tell me I'm a grandfather are ye?"

"Are ye?" Another voice entered the conversation and Vikki looked up to see Teague looking at her questionably. Vikki shook her head to quickly dismiss the thought from both of their minds. "Good, come to me cabin later with Jack...we have something important to discuss." As the Captain walked away, leaving a very confused Vikki and Mr Gibbs behind, the brunette shrugged off the Captains' strange request before introducing her father to Thomas.

"This is Thomas. The boy I saved."

Gibbs smiled warmly at the young boy and shook his hand, "Good to meet ye, sailor!" Vikki frowned upon noticing Jack and Sam sitting together on a couple of barrels by the railing of the ship, talking to one another...well, Jack was the one talking and Sam looked confused.

"Why're you telling me this?" Sam asked Jack who was currently telling him a story about one of his many adventures.

"Shut up and listen whelp." Jack mumbled. He was sat on a barrel beside Sam, telling him his story about meeting the Pelegostos for the first time. "And then they made me their chief-"

"-Fire!" Teague ordered. Cannon fire was released and _The Merman_ was blown to pieces by the _Troubadour_. Splinters of wood rained down onto the deck of the ship and littered the ocean.

Jack sighed and dismissed the whelp with a wave of his hand, "I don't know why I bother." He stated. "I never get to finish this story."

"Ye can tell me, Captain Sparrow." Thomas jumped onto the barrel beside the dreadlocked pirate who looked wide eyed at the boy in confusion.

"I don't want to tell you." Jack stated, defensively. "Go and," He waved his hands frantically. "Run around. Go poop or something." As Thomas pouted and ran off to go and get a mop and bucket to scrub the dirty, blood-stained deck, his seat on the barrel was replaced by the female crew member. Jack turned around, and was quite startled by the sudden appearance of the woman. "What do you want?" He asked, confused by the sudden amount of popularity he was receiving from the crew.

Vikki frowned and held her hand open where the silver, diamond and pearl ring lay flat on her palm. "Like you said," She rolled her eyes. "It's yours."

"Oh, thank you." Jack picked the ring off her hand and held it up to examine it. "A unique beauty indeed." He grinned at the sparkling diamond. "And just one more to go before I get me precious ship back." He then saw her staring down, a pondering expression evident on her fair face. "What're you staring at, love?" Jack asked, frowning.

"Your rings." She stated, gesturing towards his hands.

Taking that as an advantage to explain where he got his rings from, Jack pointed towards a gold ring on his left hand which had a cream face on it, "This ring, is stolen from a Spanish widow I seduced," He pointed to one with a green dragon on it, "And this one recalls my adventures in the Far East." Jack explained.

Ignoring the fact that Jack had seduced a widow, Vikki frowned, "The Far East sounds like a long way away."

"That's because it's the _Far_ East, darling." He explained vaguely. "The other three are sacred rings which I have retrieved from perilous adventures-"

Vikki scoffed and rolled her eyes, interrupting him. "Perilous? Alright, I'll give you the cannibals."

Jack glared at her, "I don't feel like sharing me adventures with you anymore." He stated, narrowing his eyes at her.

Once again Vikki rolled her eyes and got to her feet. Jack was a very unpredictable man; one moment he was nice to her and the next...he was childish, annoying and irritating! But even so...she found herself feeling...strangely attracted to him. When he was nice to her, she loved talking to him...but when he was irritable and annoying she...kind of wanted him. He was irresistible.

Later that afternoon, Vikki and Jack warily made their way into the Captain's cabin and they were both greeted by Teague who was sitting at his desk, studying the giant map spread out on top; plotting coordinates. "Take a seat, both of ye." He stated, getting to his feet and walking over to his bed.

Jack and Vikki glanced nervously at each other before slowly sliding into the two chairs beside each other on the opposite side of the desk Teague was once sat at. The Captain came back with the Code and dropped the book on top of the table with a thud, knocking over an empty bottle of rum in the process and causing the glass to clank against the wood. Vikki stood the bottle upright again and waited patiently for Teague to explain why her and Jack were both there, the two younger pirates exchanging a quick glance.

The Keeper of the Code whistled for the dog to come over before taking the key out of it's mouth and unlocking the great padlock. He then flipped open the thick gold leather cover before turning to the contents. Vikki watched him curiously as he began to flip through the pages to find the one he needed, and as he tapped the page in triumph. Vikki and Jack rose to their feet and walked around the side of the desk so that they could read it themselves.

Teague smirked and stepped backwards, "There ye go." He stated, "Feast yer eyes on that."

The Code stated that any marriage conducted - even by a pirate - was legal. Jack and Vikki's mouths fell open, the brunette was at a loss for words and her mind had gone blank. "How did you find out?" Jack asked, turning around and placing his hands on his hips.

Teague chuckled, "When the Captain asked where Mrs Sparrow was...Stripes is the only female aboard the _Troubadour_." He stated, "That and yer idea of disposing of him and his first mate sounded quite spiteful." He stated, "I'm not stupid, Jackie."

**A/N: And there is my favourite chapter :) Thank you for all the reviews, fav's and alerts! **

**Please review xx**


	13. Chapter 13

**Chapter 13**

Vikki sat in the crows nest, staring out into the dark ocean. The pirate who usually manned the crows nest had appeared a few hours ago to relieve Victoria of her daily duty...but the brunette told him to go and play poker with the rest of the crew; she needed time to think.

After she had been left on the island with Jack and made herself believe that the marriage wouldn't be legal, Vikki was struggling to cope with the reality that she was now married to the pirate. Her mind just wouldn't process the information and Jack wasn't coping well with the new found knowledge either. The brunette sighed and ran a hand through her hair, at least they hadn't made the matter any worse by _consummating_ the marriage.

Vikki cringed; at least the Captain of the _Merman_ hadn't locked them in a cabin together to do so.

Now she understood why Teague had joined her and her fathers conversation when the word 'Grandchildren' was mentioned. Although she would love to be a mother one day, Vikki couldn't think about that now. Despite having found her father and had unexpectedly gotten married, having children was last on her bucket list. For one, she had to find the last sacred ring and she still hadn't even worked out what Tia Dalma had meant by her destiny.

Perhaps she would be able to go back and visit the sea sorceress and ask her what she had meant? That way, Vikki could decide whether or not she wanted to fulfil the destiny that was set for her. Whatever it was, Vikki felt as though part of it was complete.

The brunette frowned and got to her feet when she spotted something in the water. She grabbed onto the rope which hung from the crows nest to the main deck as she searched the water for a glimpse of what she had seen. Was it a shark? She jumped from the nest onto the deck and placed a hand on her pistol as she made her way towards the side of the _Troubadour_. She had to be careful as there were no other crew members on the main deck, save for Jack and Buck who were at the helm.

Vikki peered over the side of the ship and narrowed her eyes at the vast blue ocean below the surface foaming against the side of the _Troubadour_ as it sped through the water. A flash of grey made Vikki jumped back slightly, yet when nothing jumped up to grab her, she peered over the side again.

Then she saw it.

Whatever it was, it was terrifying. It's features were similar to a human; eyes, ears, nose and a mouth. But it's skin was grey and scaly. Thorn like points jutted out of it's chin, cheekbones and forehead and it had long, thick dark green seaweed cascading from it's scalp - most likely representing hair. It had long, bony grey arms with webbed hands. It's ribcage was visible from underneath a thin layer of pale grey, scaly skin and the scales seemed to enlarge past it's belly button. It had no legs, but a long, jet black fishtail with shark fins jutting out from where it's hips would be. It's eyes were what frightened Vikki the most.

And that's when Vikki realised that the thing was looking straight at her.

The black holes conveyed a never ending darkness of misery and danger. As it opened it's mouth and roared, shark-like fangs curled over it's black lips and Vikki raised her pistol and shot at it three, four, five times - each one missing as the vicious looking creature dove back under the depths of the ocean. Vikki stepped away from the railing and dropped her pistol onto the deck with a loud thud before dropping onto her backside with shock, her eyes wide and her mouth agape.

"What is it?" Buck asked, placing a worried hand on the brunette's shoulder and helping her to stand. "Yer as white as a sheet, Stripes."

The brunette pointed towards the ocean, "The...thing." She stammered.

"What did it look like?" Jack asked, appearing on the other side of the girl.

Vikki shook her head, "You don't want to know...I've never seen anything like it in my life!"

"Draw it." Buck stated, leading her towards the Captain's cabin. He knocked twice on the door and as Teague grumbled from inside, the first mate led the brunette into the cabin. "Cap'n," He began. "Somethin's in the water. Stripes saw it, we need paper and a pen."

Jack led Victoria towards the chair and the brunette picked up the pen in her fist before scribbling on the piece of parchment, trying to draw the creature exactly how she'd seen it. It didn't exactly look nice on the paper once she'd finished, but the creature didn't look particularly pleasant anyway.

Fighting back the urge to comment on the child-like drawing, Jack picked up the pen and circled the tail. "A mermaid." He stated. "Only women can see them for how they truly look."

Teague smirked, "We must be coming close to Mermaid Cove then." He turned back to his map, running his large finger along the course that he had planned, nodding his head all the while. "What did ye do when ye saw it?"

"She fired at it." Buck and Jack replied for the brunette.

Teague sighed, "Well...as long as she didn't hit it, she should be fine to go in."

Vikki looked up at the Captain, "Go in?" She asked.

The Captain nodded, not at all fased by her rushed, impatient tone. "Aye," He stated. "My ship won't fit into the cave. And if ye can swim through a storm, ye can swim past some mermaids."

The brunette blinked, "But Tia Dalma said it'd take _all_ of us." She stated in confusion.

Teague nodded, "Aye. But I've heard tales that a musical instrument lies inside the cave, and when played, the mermaids fall into a deep sleep, which will allow the rest of the crew to cross safely."

Vikki wasn't entirely sure if that was true, but she had to trust her Captain nevertheless. She left the cabin with Buck and Jack, and as the first mate and the dreadlocked pirate walked back up to the helm, Vikki slowly made her way towards her pistol which she had dropped on the deck. As she picked it up, she heard a splash coming from the bow of the ship.

"Buck?" She called.

The first mate looked up and quickly walked onto the main deck and over towards the brunette, her body standing still and rigid, still on one spot. "What is it?" He asked.

"I heard a splash." She stated, "Will you come with me to go and see what it is?"

"Mermaids aren't a threat to women, Stripes." He stated. "More to meself and Jack and the moment, I should stand at the helm with him - just scream if yer being attacked."

Reluctantly letting the first mate go back to the helm, the brunette forced herself to return her pistol to her belt and walk towards the bow of the ship, unarmed. She didn't know if it was the same mermaid as before as she had only seen the one, but as she got closer towards the grey scaled creature, Vikki swallowed the lump forming in her throat. The mermaid had her arms crossed over the railing of the ship, her tail hanging out of the water.

Vikki heard her name being whispered and carried with the wind. "I'm sorry I fired at you." She whispered, her voice shaking.

The mermaid shook her head and ran a hand through her slimy, seaweed hair. "_Ash ne yeng ton_." Her voice was hoarse, sharp and sent shivers down Victoria's spine. Vikki frowned and shook her head, trying to find a way to tell the mermaid that she couldn't understand what she had said. Instead, the mermaid raised one of her webbed hands, and crooked a gnarly looking pointed black fingernail - beckoning for the brunette to come closer towards her.

Vikki had heard that mermaids lured men to the edge of the ship with their beauty before kissing them and dragging them off the side of the ship, down into the depths of the ocean.

The brunette shook her head, and then the mermaid did something completely unexpected. She swung her tail aboard the ship and Vikki's eyes widened as the grotesque, shark fin tail split in two. Bones began to form, snapping into place before human feet began to mould. Although the skin was still grey, the mermaid now had a pair of fully formed legs. Holding onto the railing for support, the mermaid began to hobble towards Vikki who was frozen on the spot.

Upon reaching the brunette, the mermaid placed a webbed hand on her shoulder before leaning closer to whisper in her ear. Vikki grimaced at the raw fish stench coming from the mermaids breath, but her eyes widened in shock when she heard her speaking. Although there was still the gruff, sharp mer-voice, there was good english underlying her words and Vikki realised that it had not been the wind that had spoken her name, but the mermaid herself.

"Victoria Gibbs." The mermaid whispered, Vikki strained her ears to be able to hear the words. "Tia Dalma foretold a great destiny which you behold...four sacred rings...four sacred rings." Vikki frowned, yes she knew that part. "The Black Pearl shall rise again...Jack Sparrow...Sparrow." What did Jack have anything to do with this? "Find the Fountain of Youth and bring me two cups of it's water...water. Then I shall let you pass through Mermaid Cove...Mermaid Cove."

Vikki nodded, "Ok." She whispered, "I'll try. But I want the entire crew of the _Troubadour_ to pass unharmed."

The mermaid grinned a shark-toothed grin before slowly nodding her head, "I shall spread word to my sisters...sisters...that this shall be your quest." The mermaid then let out an incredibly high pitched wail, and Vikki had to cover her ears as the scream echoed loudly across the _Troubadour_. The mermaid then turned and dived back into the ocean, Vikki did not hear the splash due to intensity of her pounding eardrums. Footsteps rushed towards the bow of the ship where Victoria was kneeling, and she was hauled to her feet by Buck.

"I guess that beautiful voice didn't sound very pleasant to you, eh?" Jack asked.

Upon realising that she had screamed aswell, Vikki closed her eyes tightly and shook her head. "We have to go to the Fountain of Youth." She stated.

"Eh?" Buck asked. "The Fountain of Youth?"

Vikki nodded, "The mermaid said that if I bring her two cups of it's water, she will grant the _Troubadour_ free passage into Mermaid Cove."

"Is that so?" Jack smirked, looking over the railings of the ship. "Pesky mermaids will always find a loophole in something."

"As do ye Jackie." Teague stated, coming up to stand beside his son. "The Fountain of Youth, did I hear ye say, Stripes?" The brunette nodded, "Aye..." He turned back to his son, "Jackie do ye still have the _Mao Kung_ Navigational Charts?"

"Aye." Jack stated, "Only copies. What of them?"

"I'll be needin' them."

Jack crossed his arms before reluctantly pulling a rolled up piece of parchment out from under his shirt, "I preferred the idea of sending Victoria swimming towards the instrument." The brunette narrowed her eyes at the dreadlocked pirate before crossing her arms over her chest.

"Is that right?" She asked, making a gun from her fingers and pretending to fire at Jack's lower region.

The dreadlocked pirate's eyes widened a fraction before turning back to his father, "I think we need to get a move on with this heading, I've been there before - leave this to me!" Jack snatched the hand created map from his father before running towards the Captain's cabin; his arms waving wildly above his head.

Vikki returned to her own cabin, and collapsed on her cot beside Boots the cat. She began to gently pet the furry ball of fun as she stared up at the ceiling. She kicked off her boots before tucking herself under her covers and trying to fall asleep, but after ten minutes of tossing and turning, she sat up and sighed frustratedly before throwing the covers off her body again and pulling her boots back on her feet. She untied her hair from the blue ribbon before running her hands through it as she made her way back up to the main deck.

Jack frowned from the helm as the brunette made her way back on deck, "Didn't you already turn in?" He asked.

"I couldn't sleep." Vikki replied. "And I'm bored of staring at that ceiling." It kept morphing into the ugly, grey, roaring face of the mermaid.

Jack smirked "Love." He stated, "You can spend all night in my hammock. I'm sure me da won't mind, and instead of looking at the ceiling, you could bloody well look at me instead." Vikki forcefully shook her head, feeling heat rising to her cheeks, and she felt a fluttering, tugging feeling form in the pit of her stomach. "Keep telling yourself that, love." Jack grinned, "But you'll come over to my side one day. Besides, I'm Captain Jack Sparrow - all women do."

Right at that moment, Vikki wanted to take him up on his offer. Although Sam had suggested that, Jack had done so without threatening or offending her...but maybe it was because she had slight feelings for Jack, whereas Sam went straight into the friend zone. Vikki smiled innocently as she walked towards Jack, he had raised an eyebrow at her in confusion, but a grin made it's way onto his face when she slightly pushed her body against his.

"Oh Jack," Vikki began. He then felt something press against his trousers, and the clicking sound as Vikki cocked her pistol. "I don't hesitate when I have a gun in my hands." She then turned away from him, uncocking her weapon as she slotted it back into her belt. She jogged down from the helm and made her way towards the mast of the _Troubadour_.

Jack was left standing at the helm, staring after the brunette with confused, wide eyes. "Never have I been turned down like _that_ before." He stated as he returned his molten chocolate eyes back towards the ocean ahead.

**A/N: I think it was about time for an update :) Please review xx**


	14. Chapter 14

**Chapter 14**

The stories Victoria had head about mermaids throughout her years of sailing had always described the aquatic creatures to be the most beautiful beings in the entire ocean; capturing the very hearts of sailors with their fair faces, curvy physiques and melodic voices.

Vikki had not seen anything like that at all.

Taking the new found information that mermaids were seen by women for what they truly were, Vikki shuddered. How can people see things differently from one another? Sam was a prime example. Buck, Nigel and Jack warned her about him, yet she only saw the side of him that she wanted to see. Shaking the thought of Sam from her mind, Vikki thought about all those sailors that were lost at sea due to falling into the mermaids scheming hands. The brunette felt sorry for them and she was glad there weren't any stories about Mermen, because Vikki was as much as a hopeless romantic with the two-legged kind of man, let alone a fish-tailed, handsome man with a beautiful voice; who could capture her heart with just eye contact.

Her thoughts wondered to Jack briefly when she thought about eyes. His molten chocolate pools pulled her into an enchanted world, made her blush, made her feel things. She could see so much adventure and mystery in them that she swooned each and every time eye contact was established between them. And Vikki knew Jack used that to his advantage. He wasn't stupid.

"Victoria!" Jack called up from the helm.

Rolling her eyes, Vikki looked over the edge of the crows nest, "Jack, I'm busy. No I haven't seen any more mermaids, and you can get your own rum from the hold!" She tore her eyes away from his so that she wouldn't succumb to his charm, and as she put the silver telescope to her eye, she slyly moved it towards the helm to closely watch the rugged pirate. Upon finding him absent from the helm, Vikki frowned. She shrugged off his strange disappearance and continued to scout the ocean.

Jack had been to the Fountain of Youth before, and had told her to look out for a black rubble tower and a broken dock. She sighed and closed the telescope before slotting it back into her belt. Although the sky was cloudy, it was incredibly hot and Victoria had already shed herself of her jacket and she wasn't about to parade the main deck in just her chest bindings and breaches!

Vikki grabbed onto the rope and jumped down from the crows nest, stumbling slightly as she hit the deck. She released her grip on the rope as she made her way towards the hatch, wondering if her father was in the galley with the other pirates playing poker or drinking rum with them. She stumbled down the stairs and swayed on her feet as a pounding headache thumped in her left temple, frowning because she hadn't drunk any rum the evening before, Vikki continued along the corridor and barrelled into someone as she turned the corner. She was knocked off her feet and landed on her back with a thud and an 'oof'.

"Ye alright, Stripes?" Nigel asked, reaching out his hand to pull her to her feet. "Yer been drinkin'?"

"No." Vikki replied, accepting his offering hand to help her up. "Although I feel like I have a hangover." She stated afterwards, "I was looking for my father, do you know where he is?"

"Aye," Nigel stated. "Just been drinkin' with meself down in the hull." The red haired pirate chuckled, "He 'as many a story to tell about 'is adventures with Jack."

"Aye," Vikki smiled. "That he does." She pulled her telescope off her belt and handed it too him. "Would you mind?" She asked.

"I was just on me way to relieve ye." He stated, taking the telescope from her. "Dawson was feelin' a bit run down...ye don't look quite right yerself, Stripes." He stated, pointing out her pale pallor, "Perhaps ye be best t'go an' see Mr Smith in his cabin."

Vikki nodded, she would go and see her father once she was assured that there was nothing wrong with her. "Aye." She stated, "I might go and do that now, actually."

"Would ye like me t'walk ye?" He asked, courteously Holding a hand out to steady her swaying figure, "Ye look like yer about t'drop-Is she going t'be alright?" Vikki's eyes fluttered open and she found herself looking up at a wooden ceiling.

"I hope so." Smith's voice stated, "I believe she has heat stroke. Too much sun and not enough water, I think it'd be best if she refrained from manning the crows nest for a couple of days." She heard some paper shuffling. "For now, I'll watch over her while she rests."

"Ta mate," Nigel stated. "I'll let the Cap'n know that she an' Dawson are down 'ere."

As the door closed behind the second mate, Vikki reached a hand to her head and moaned quietly. Had she just been hit over the head with a rum bottle? When and how did she get into the Doctors' Cabin? She slowly sat up and blinked a couple of times to clear the haze from her eyes. She felt dizzy, faint and horribly achy all over. A hand gently rested on her shoulder and eased her back into a laying position in the hammock.

"You must stay here for a while, Stripes." Mr Smith stated, his voice sounded quite far away and Vikki closed her eyes and sighed. "Here," He held a bottle of rum in his hand and helped her drink. "It'll help you sleep."

"Thank you." She stated as the rum burned down her throat. As she settled back in the hammock, she hadn't realised how stiff her body actually was, "Mr Smith," She asked. "I was fine this morning, what's happened?"

"I think it to be heat stroke." He stated. "Unless you've just got an infection. But both you and Dawson attend the crows nest, and you've both got it." Vikki nodded slightly, and accepted more rum when it was offered too her. "Dawson's been in here since this morning with it." He continued, "But I think he'll be well enough to leave by dawn. Both of you are not to man the crows nest for a few days until you're fine."

After drinking rum, Victoria was feeling much better. But she knew that was just the tingling feeling of having alcohol which was kicking in, she would be useless in a drinking contest. Half a bottle made her tipsy, and whole bottle made her lose her sense of direction which caused her to stumble everywhere she attempted to walk. "Do you think it's contagious?"

"Not sure." Mr Smith replied, scratching his dark grey goatee. "I wouldn't risk it though. Given the fact that we are coming up to mermaid waters now."

Vikki sat up again, "Then I should return to my own cabin. I don't want you becoming ill, Mr Smith." Vikki smiled gratefully at him as he helped her onto her feet. She assured him she would be alright walking the short distance from his cabin towards her own, and as she stumbled out of the door, she kept a steady hand on the railing as she walked towards her own cabin. The rum - although it eased her headache for the moment - did not help with her walking. She swayed slightly left and right as she walked towards her cabin, and she just hoped she didn't run into Sam while she was in this drunken, slightly vulnerable state.

"Victoria?" Her ears were still throbbing, so she was unable to recognise who's voice it was. But the gentle jangle of beads and those footsteps she recognised, she turned on her heel and watched Jack swagger towards her. "What're you doing?" He asked, in a Captain's tone of voice.

The brunette blinked at him, "I'm going back to my cabin." She stated.

Jack narrowed his eyes at the brunette before lifting a finger and moving it back and forth in front of her, "Are you drunk?" He asked.

Vikki scowled at him, "No. I'm slightly tipsy."

Jack smirked and placed his arm around the brunette's shoulder, "Love, you really need to stop drinking all the rum and save some for everybody else."

"Mr Smith gave it to me."

"Who?"

"Mr Smith."

"You already said that, love." Jack rolled his eyes. "Who is Mr Smith?"

"The doctor."

"Why were you with Mr Smith?"

Vikki narrowed her eyes at the dreadlocked pirate, "l believe you're asking a lot of questions, Captain Sparrow."

Jack frowned, "Nope, I've only asked a couple. One of which you took to an extreme level which made it quite difficult to understand." Her curled his fingers through the air.

The brunette closed her eyes tightly as the headache came back again, "That made no sense." She continued to stumble down the corridor, towards her cabin which was situated at the very end. Jack's arm dropped from her shoulders although he continued to walk with her.

"It made every bit of sense, love!" He argued, "If I understand what it is that I have said then why can't other people understand what I understand?"

"Headache." She grumbled, turning the knob to her cabin door. She then turned to look at Jack, frowning at him in suspicion and confusion, "Why're you down here?"

Jack smirked, "I came to see were your cabin was, love." As Vikki blushed and looked at him in utter shock, Jack only chuckled, "I came down for some more rum, because the person I asked told me to sod off and get it meself." He held up the empty bottle and stared at it, "And I don't like having empty bottles."

"I didn't tell you to sod off." Vikki corrected him. "I-"

Jack put a finger to the brunette lips to quieten her, and Vikki stared at it cross-eyed. "Goodnight, Victoria." As he turned on his heel and began to swagger back down the corridor, Vikki watched him until he had disappeared down the corridor before stepping into her cabin, and falling onto her bed and into a dreamless slumber.

Jack joined Mr Gibbs in the hull and chuckled upon seeing his first mate near to passing out. The older man was dozing off, his forehead pressed against the neck of his rum bottle which was held tightly in the man's grip. "Mr Gibbs!" Jack said authoratively.

"Aye, Cap'n!" Gibbs exclaimed, shooting awake and back in his chair.

Jack chuckled before sitting in the chair opposite his first mate; reaching over and plucking the rum bottle from the greying man's grasp, "Ta." Jack then uncorked the bottle and downed the remains of Gibbs' rum before slotting the bottle back into the man's hands. "Fetch me another, would ya? Your daughter told me to sod off and do it meself."

Gibbs grinned drunkenly, "She's a sweetheart that Victoria."

"Aye." Jack murmured, "My rum, Mr Gibbs."

Gibbs quickly got up from his chair and crossed the room towards the rum stocked shelves, he removed two of the bottles before returning to the table where his Captain was sitting, impatiently awaiting the arrival of his bottle of rum. As he took his seat again, Gibbs took a long swig of his rum before speaking again, "I heard there's goin' to be a mutiny." He stated. "On a youngen named Sam."

Jack took a swig of his rum and grinned, "Aye, that be right." He stated. "The whelp is being dropped off on an island within the next few days, and we shall hope to never see him again."

"He looks to be one of them, pirates." Gibbs stated, "Ye know what I mean." He raised his bottle to his lips once again.

"Aye, that I do." Jack was not going to tell Mr Gibbs the reason why Sam was being mutinied, that'd just upset Victoria. Jack smirked at the thought of angering the brunette, "Do you know why the whelp is being mutinied, Mr Gibbs?"

Gibbs raised his eyes from the remnants of rum in his bottle to look at his Captain, "Why, I do not." Gibbs stated, "What be the reason?"

Jack leant across the table and spoke in a serious, hushed tone, "He tried to get his hands on your Victoria." He stated, "Of course, I was the one to find the whelp and save the fair damsel in distress, and that be because I am Captain Jack Sparrow." Jack finally looked at his first mate, his grin dropping from his face upon seeing Mr Gibbs sleeping. The greying pirates mouth was open on his hand, and drool was running down his chin. He was lightly snoring.

Jack rolled his eyes before taking a swig of his rum and getting to his feet. He swayed slightly, and upon finding his balance again, he swaggered towards the door to the hull and left to return to his cabin and help Teague complete the heading towards the island where the Fountain of Youth was. He ignored the splashing over the sides of the _Troubadour_, he expected the mermaids to follow the ship to the Fountain of Youth and he also suspected that they were going to follow them into Mermaid Cove.

Jack knew that the mermaids were going to find a loophole in Victoria's bargain with them. He knew this because he had found it himself. The mermaid's would allow them safely into Mermaid Cove...but they didn't say anything about granting them safe passage out of it. And that was why the mermaids were following them - not only to warn off other mermaids, but to prepare for an attack on the _Troubadour_.

**A/N: thank you to everyone who has been following the story so far :) Please review! Things are about to get better! xx**


	15. Chapter 15

**Chapter 15**

Victoria awoke that next morning with a splitting headache. How much rum did she drink the night before? She slowly sat up and allowed the wave of nausea to settle before she swung her legs over the side of her bed and got to her feet.

Remembering that she wasn't supposed to man the crows nest for the next few days, Vikki dressed in her striped breaches, bound her chest and pulled on her shirt. She tied her hair up before heading towards the kitchen to retrieve a drink of water. She passed Thomas who was carrying his mop and bucket up to the main deck and she smiled warmly at him before continuing down the corridor. She froze when she stepped into the kitchen, and slowly backed out upon finding Sam in there.

Vikki leant against the wall outside the kitchen, and upon hearing footsteps the brunette turned around and dashed away. She zoomed around the corner.

"Good morning!" Someone said to her.

Unfortunately, she didn't see them in time to stop and barrelled into them - effectively knocking them over and falling on top of them. "I'm so sorry!" She apologised.

Jack grinned, "And a good morning it is." Vikki stood up and held her hand out to Jack. The dreadlocked pirate took and pulled himself up, "Now, may I inquire as to where you were going in such a rush?"

Vikki frowned, "I could ask you the same question." She stated. "You don't sleep down here?"

"Do I not?" Jack asked, frowning. "Oh, must've been to protect the rum." He took a swig from the bottle in his hand. "Now if you'll excuse me, love, I must get back to me duties." As Jack swaggered away down the corridor, Vikki kept a watch out for Sam as she backtracked towards the kitchen. Upon finding it empty, Vikki sighed with relief before stepping into the room and collecting the drink of water she had gone for.

As she replenished her thirst, Victoria then headed onto the main deck and took over from Thomas. She slipped two scrubbing brushes onto her feet and drew her cutlass, the boy smiled excitedly back at her as he drew his own sword.

"Oi!" Footsteps grew louder before both Victoria and Thomas looked up at Jack. "What do you think you're doing? No one can have fun on deck but me."

"I wanted to have a go aswell, Captain Sparrow." Tom stated, "But I was told not too. You might break your leg."

"Son," Jack placed a hand on the young boy's shoulder. "I will never break my leg...I'm Captain Jack Sparrow." As Jack looked up to smirk at the brunette, he frowned upon finding her absent. The deck had been fully scrubbed and the mop, brushes and bucket taken away. The dreadlocked pirate took his hand off the boys shoulder before taking a swig of rum. "Where on earth did she go?"

For the next few hours, Jack kept watch on the sea at the helm; steering the _Troubadour_ towards the correct heading. A disgruntled, one-eared pirate had taken over Victoria's duty in the crows nest, and Jack had seen the brunette disappear at the bow of the ship a whole hour ago. Jack had seen one pirate in the hold, writing a letter and the dreadlocked pirate had inquired as to the occasion. It was the fourteenth of February and Jack heard a bell ring in his head, he knew what the day meant but he couldn't put a stamp on it. He had inquired again and the pirate had said: 'the day of love'.

Although, Jack had many whores awaiting for him in Tortuga, he assured himself that they would not mind if he just so decided to do whatever he wished on this day. He swaggered towards the bow of the ship to find the brunette standing at the railing; staring out into the ocean.

Vikki looked startled when a hand appeared in front of her, a small brown box in it's grasp. She looked up at Jack and realised that he had handed her the exact box she had snagged from his belt when they were in Port Royal; fighting over the first sacred ring, "Seeing as it's the day of Valentines and you don't have anybody to share the occasion with, I shall let you play with me compass. Once."

Although she was slightly offended by his statement, Vikki smiled at him appreciatively. "Thank you, Jack." She stated, looking at it. The compass seemed to be one of his most valuable possessions (besides himself and rum) and Vikki felt almost honoured to be allowed to use it...despite already knowing where North was. Jack stepped away from her as she opened the box, and Vikki frowned upon finding that the dial didn't settle properly. "That isn't North." She pointed in Jacks direction once the dial had finally stopped spinning.

"My compass shows you what you want most." Jack grinned at her, "You're coming over to my side quicker than I'd imagined, darling."

Vikki shook her head, hoping that Jack didn't notice the blush that swept across her face, "Keep telling yourself that, Jack."

Never before had a woman stolen his words from him and Jack stared at her for a lingering moment before finding himself (surprisingly) speechless. "You shall come over to my side, love...I know it." He flashed her his charming grin and stepped closer towards her.

"You seem very certain on that," Vikki stated as she turned around, she hadn't realised how close he was too her and she blushed slightly on remembering what had happened in Port Royal when he'd gotten this close last time. She placed her hands behind her on the railing of the ship so that she could balance herself as she looked up at Jack.

"One word, love: curiosity. You long to do what you want to do because you want it. To act on selfish impulse. You want to see what it's like. One day... you won't be able to resist." As Jack leant forwards which caused Vikki's eyes to lower from Jack's molten chocolate orbs to gaze longingly at his lips. "We are very much alike you and I..." He paused and frowned, "I and you." He seemed to be more satisfied once he had put his name first. But then he looked confused at the words he had just uttered, "I feel a tad bit of deja-va going on here."

"Land ho!" The man in the crows nest suddenly called down.

Jack shook off his moment of confusion and smirked. He then grabbed his compass before turning away from Victoria and walking from the bow of the ship, onto the main deck and up to the helm where his father was standing. "Oi! Codfish!" Jack shouted up towards his father, "Try an get as close to the island as possible, I don't want any mermaids getting their hands on me valuables."

Teague rolled his eyes, "Bring 'er about!" He called to the crew.

Vikki stared after Jack in confusion her ocean blue eyes studied him carefully, he really did confuse her but she knew he was right. It was only a matter of time before she did fall for him.

The brunette sighed and, although it was dark, she could see the mermaids swimming alongside the _Troubadour_. Vikki didn't know whether it was for protection from other mermaids or to lead them to Mermaid Cove once they had retrieved the two goblets of water from the Fountain of Youth. Whatever they were there for, Vikki had a bad feeling about them. Was Jack right? Was there a loophole in her bargain with them? Shrugging it off as just paranoia, Vikki joined the crew on the main deck and prepared herself to get into a boat with Jack and spend whoever knows how long on an island with him!

Jack rowed the boat towards the island, trusting Victoria to keep her beautiful ocean blue eyes open for any mermaids. Jack did not want to die before he got his precious _Pearl_ back.

They stepped onto the island and stretched their legs for a possibly long walk up the hills and mountains on the island. Vikki felt a tingling sensation, and it didn't feel like the hangover kind. It couldn't be from the last sacred ring, because that was in Mermaid Cove. She followed behind Jack as he followed wherever his compass was leading him.

Captain Sparrow frowned before turning on his heel and walking back past Victoria. "Well, I expect we'll definitely be going in that direction." Vikki stated, pointing towards the forest.

Jack was silent as he looked up at the vast amount of forest, "Well that's helpful." He stated, "Narrows our search a little doesn't it?"

"Well, what do you want me to do Jack?" Vikki asked.

"There's not much you can do, love." Jack replied. "But I ain't going in there alone, so if you just keep quiet and look pretty, you'll be fine company." Vikki rolled her eyes and sat down, but as soon as she did Jack began to wander off. "Love," He called over his shoulder. "I ain't carrying you." Pretending that he had found a route, Jack continued into the forest rather than head back towards the beach. The brunette slowly followed after him, that tingling feeling remained in her stomach.

"Right, love." Jack stated. "Last time I was here I had to retrieve two chalices." He turned around to face the brunette but upon finding her missing, he frowned and began to backtrack. He rolled his eyes at her still making her way up a steep slope, and he had to give her a hand to help her up. "Shall we go back to the ship and I swap you for Sam, then once I return with the chalices and the youthful water, we can leave the bloody bastard here?" Victoria nodded and Jack frowned and eyed her carefully, "You seem to have changed your mind on the whole mutiny idea, eh?"

"No." She glared at him.

Jack rolled his eyes at her stubbornness and continued on through the forest, ignoring the fact that the needle of his compass was still facing the beach. There was no way that the entire fountain had moved by itself in just over two months.

They continued on through the forest and it wasn't long before it had begun to get dark.

"Jack!" Vikki called.

The dreadlocked pirate turned around and swaggered back towards her, "What is it, love?" He asked.

"It's dark." She stated. "Which means spiders and snakes are harder to see."

Jack blinked at her, was she really that stupid? "Love, they shall not harm you." He continued to walk forwards, "If you remain by my side that is...for I am Captain Jack Sparrow, savvy?" Vikki grabbed hold of his elbow as she traipsed after him.

"But Jack, they could be poisonous! If we get bitten - we could die!"

Jack turned to face had and batted her hand off his elbow, "Please don't make me repeat meself, darling. I am who I am, and that will solve all your problems. Now," He placed a hand on her back and guided her forwards, "Keep a sharp eye open, because I remember throwing meself off a cliff around about here..." The sentence was finished with both of their screams. Their feet had completely missed the edge of a cliff and they were toppling into the ocean below; clutching onto each other for dear life. Just like they had done on the island of the Pelegostos.

They broke through the surface of the water with two loud splashes; their breath knocked from their bodies. Vikki began to swim towards the surface and as soon as her head had risen out of the ocean, she took a deep gasp of air and wiped the water from her eyes. She looked around for land to swim to, and screamed as Jack appeared in front of her. She then reached out a hand and slapped him across the face, which caused him to spit out a mouthful of water. "Jack!" She cried, "Where's the land?"

The dreadlocked pirate postponed his glare towards the brunette so that he could take in his surroundings, there should've been a cave somewhere! After finally spotting it, he pointed towards the cave, and they both began swimming towards it. Vikki couldn't help but have the feeling that something kept brushing against her foot. Too frightened to look down incase she had a panic attack and delayed her arrival to shore, she just swam faster, and hauled herself onto the rocks, closely followed by Jack.

"You know, I couldn't help but feel something touching me." Jack stated, wringing out excess water from his shirt. "Can you not get enough of me, love?"

Vikki glared at him, "It wasn't me." She replied, "I had the same feeling."

"Mermaids." Jack turned back to face the ocean, where he caught a glimpse of vibrant, glossy red hair and an emerald green tail underneath the surface of the ocean. "They were letting us know that we'd be dead if you hadn't have stuck a bargain with them."

Vikki shivered and wrapped her arms around herself, "Let's move." She stated. "Where're we going next?" Jack pulled out his compass and tipped it upside down to drain some water from it before giving it a shake and waiting for the point to stop. He frowned as the dial didn't stop in the direction of the beach...but in the direction of-

-Jack's eyes widened and he snapped the lid shut before staring at Victoria, "What?" She asked.

"Waterlogged." Jack stated quickly as he attached his compass back to his belt. "We better stay here until morning." Vikki sighed and looked warily around the dank, dark cave before reluctantly agreeing.

**A/N: And this chapter is especially for Valentine's Day :) Please review xx**


	16. Chapter 16

**Chapter 16**

The next morning, Vikki awoke to the suns rays creeping into the hollow of the cave. She sat up, yawned and stretched before looking around to see where Jack was. The dreadlocked pirate was still asleep, sprawled out on the rocks opposite her. The Vikki remembered what they were on the island for, "Jack!" She shouted.

The pirate shot up and pulled out his pistol, disorientated grumbling followed as he looked around wildly and sleepily. "Wha-!"

Vikki couldn't help but laugh at him. "Jack." She stated, "We should get moving." She hopped onto her feet before looking behind her. The cave was infact a tunnel, and there were a few holes in the ceiling which let a little light inside and the brunette was glad that they didn't have to walk around in complete darkness.

Jack pulled out his compass and closed his eyes tightly, focusing all his mind power on the Fountain of Youth. He cracked an eye open and exclaimed in joy once its needle pointed towards the tunnel and not the brunette standing off at the side of the cave. He swayed to his feet before leading the way into the cave, grabbing the brunette's wrist as he walked past, "Onwards!" He cheered.

The tunnel seemed to drag on forever. Twice they had to stop and catch their breaths, and Jack was running out of ideas, "I spy-"

"-Rock." Vikki stated in monotone.

"Ah, you guessed it!" Jack chuckled. His face lit up as the suns rays brightened up the cave even more, "We're getting close to the way out." He stated. "Freedom!" He picked up his pace and ran towards the exit whilst Vikki traipsed along behind him.

Outside of the cave were hundreds and hundreds of trees that towered high above the two pirates. Vikki didn't think she'd be so happy as to see a tree in her entire life, but being in that cave for hours on end did make one miss the colour green. Vikki turned to Jack, her breath caught in her throat when she looked into his eyes. She had forgotten how beautiful they were.

"Love," Jack stated. "Are you feeling alright?" He asked. Vikki saw the smirk on his face; he knew what he was doing to her. Like he'd said before '_he was Captain Jack Sparrow_'. She refused to believe that she was falling onto his side. She did not want to see that smirk which symbolised that his ego had grown twice the size that it already was. Currently, it was already too big for himself.

"I'm fine, Jack." She replied, turning away from him and placing her hands on her hips. Two could play at this game. "But I feel as though we might get lost here. What will we do if that happens?" She turned around to face him.

"Well there's only one thing we can do." Jack began, "Capture a mermaid so that one of us can stay alive forever."

"And I suppose you'll be the gentleman and let me drink the one with the mermaid's tear?"

Jack scoffed, "Nope." He placed his hands on his own hips, "I'll be the gentleman to let you die first. Therefore you shall not be alone for too long. Then, I shall use me compass to find my way back to the _Troubadour_."

Vikki smirked, "And why wouldn't your compass work with me here, Jack?" She asked, innocently.

Jack held it in the air and shook it, "Must be ever so slightly broken." He stated ignoring the brunette and looking intently at the small brown box, "Never mind." He spotted a large ship balancing on a rocky point, and silently thanked it for magically appearing. "I recognise that unsafe looking ship." Jack began to swagger towards it, "Keep your arms and legs inside the ship at all times and, please," He whirled around to face her. "And don't touch anything."

Vikki scowled at his back and crossed her arms as she followed behind the Captain towards the tilting ship.

They made their way along a narrow gangplank and into the ship. "This was where the two goblets were supposed to be last time."

"_Supposed_ to be?"

Jack waved his hands around, which slightly rocked the ship, "Someone else had gotten them first."

The ship groaned, and Vikki looked around it. The floorboards and walls were old and dusty, the entire room was some sort of lost treasure horde with old chests, and cobwebbed covered jewellery. "On the count of three run for the bed." Vikki screamed upon seeing a skeleton sitting upright in said bed, "Whatever you do." Jack stated, placing a hand on the small of her back, "Don't touch his map. Ready? Three!" The ship groaned and tilted as the two pirates ran across the deck and towards the mauve quilted bed. They both jumped onto it and the ship stopped groaning as it settled back into a rightful position. "Now," Jack stated. "Where were we?" He winked at Victoria before looking around the ship.

Vikki turned her head in the opposite direction Jack was in; her face heated. Her legs were already underneath the dreadlocked pirate as it was, his words had just made things a little more uncomfortable for her.

She saw a small, colourful stained glass bowl on the floor by the bed and picked it up the blow the dust off of it. As she picked it up, the ship groaned and Vikki screamed as a spider ran out from underneath the bowl.

"I told you not to touch anything!" Jack exclaimed. Vikki placed the bowl back onto the floor, her eyes not moving from the hand-sized black spider in front of her.

"Jack." She whispered, her voice wavering slightly.

"What is it, love?" Jack turned around on the bed so he was laying beside her, an he followed her frightened eyes to gape at the spider, slowly making it's may towards the other side of the ship. As the arachnid got to the halfway-point of the ship, the groaning commenced. "Bugger." From underneath the bed he pulled out a box that the goblets should have been in last time. As he opened it, he frowned upon only finding one inside.

The ship groaned again and began to tilt. Both pirates screamed as they rolled off the bed and onto the floor. The furniture inside the ship began to creak and groan before sliding along the deck. Jack quickly jumped to his feet and hoisted Victoria onto her own as he began dragging her towards the gangplank. It was gradually being pulled away from the cliff, so they both ran across, their hearts pounding, adrenaline pumping through their veins as they jumped the gap and latched onto the side of the cliff - only just making it to safety.

Jack placed the goblet on the side of the cliff before hoisting himself onto the edge. He then turned around for the brunette and grabbed her hand. She was lighter than he had expected, he overbalanced and landed flat on his back - the brunette pulled on top of him; blushing.

"This is wrong." Jack stated, frowning. "I should be on top." Vikki's eyes widened before she rolled off of him and onto the grass to catch her breath and calm her frantic heartbeat.

"We could've died." Vikki stated.

"And all because you picked up that bloody bowl!" Jack replied. "I told you not to touch anything!"

Vikki's mouth fell open in shock, "You didn't say it would count for every tiny little object!" She snapped, "Besides - it was that spider!"

"Which you freed from under the bowl!"

"I told you spiders were dangerous!"

"Well, they bloody are now!"

Fighting the urge to kiss him out of anger, Vikki sat up quickly and got to her feet. "Are we going after the Fountain or are we just going to sit here arguing?"

"Technically," Jack replied. "I'm laying down and you are standing." Vikki rolled her eyes at his childishness. "And it's a lost cause anyway." He stated, "There was only one goblet." He picked it up and went to throw it over the edge of the cliff.

"Wait!" Vikki screamed. Jack paused with the goblet above his head and he slowly turned to face the brunette behind him, "What if the other one is at the Fountain?" She asked.

"Doubt it." Jack stated. "A twin is normally with it's twin."

Vikki sighed and placed her hands on her hips, "What if they were split up so that people coming in search of the Fountain wouldn't be able to use it?"

Jack's ears perked up, "Ah," He got to his feet. "I have been hit with an amazing thought." He began, "What if the goblets were split up so that people in search of the Fountain believed it to be a lost cause, so they threw the single goblet over the edge, thus concluding my theory that no one would be able to use said Fountain, eh?"

"What an amazing thought, Jack." Vikki stated in monotone. "Now, let's go find the other goblet." She turned away from the dreadlocked pirate and began to walk up the small grassy slope. She could hear Jack swaggering along behind her, tapping his compass every few seconds and it wasn't long until he caught up and overtook the brunette. Jack stopped in his tracks and stood still for a moment, Vikki caught up with him and her eyes widened upon seeing a tall pile of tree branches, burnt black. Mermaid skeletons were tied to the side of the bonfire and Vikki covered her open mouth with her hand, "What happened here?"

Jack cleared his throat, "Other men who come to find the Fountain usually catch a mermaid beforehand," He began. "That way, when they get close, they can collect a fresh tear." He looked at the skeletons, "And it's very hard to make a mermaid cry, love." He eyed Vikki for a second longer before throwing his hands into the air and pulling up his sleeves, "Anyway," He stated. "Let's continue onwards!" As he began to swagger away, Vikki followed closely behind him.

They crossed a long, narrow, roped bridge and quickly shuffled onto the other side. "Jack," Vikki groaned. "Do you know where we're going?"

Captain Sparrow turned on his heel and looked at her in shock, "Are you questioning my navigational skills?"

Vikki stopped walking before she knocked him over and shrugged her shoulders at him, "No." She stated simply, "I'm questioning the ability of your compass."

Jack narrowed his eyes at the brunette, "That's the last time I let you touch it." He turned around and continued to walk on, and he jumped in excitement when a cave came into view. He swept his hands towards the cave, "This, love." He stated, smirking. "Is proof that my compass _works_."

Vikki sighed and began walking towards the dark, damp and dull looking grey rocks. "Are you sure this is the right one?"

"Positive!" Jack cheered. He stopped dead in his tracks upon seeing another woman walking into the cave. She was slightly shorter than Victoria and had long, dark brown hair and...

...Jack could recognise that bottom anywhere.

"Bugger." Jack stated, grabbing Vikki's shoulders and moving her to stand in front of him as he slowly backed them out of the cave before they were spotted.

The tingles Vikki had had ever since she and Jack had stepped foot on the island suddenly flared and the brunette found herself peering around the corner of the cave and looking down at the woman's hand.

"Do you know her?" She whispered as she spotted a beautiful sapphire gem set in a gold ring, encrusted with black gems on the woman's index finger.

Vikki knew this was the last sacred ring and came to the conclusion that the woman had taken it from Mermaid Cove herself, Vikki sighed with relief, knowing that the _Troubadour_ didn't have to trespass into the realm of the mermaids.

The dark haired woman pushed herself through the ceiling of swilling water, so Jack and Victoria walked into the cave and stared up at the whirlpool above them. "Love, that is a woman I wished to never see again." Jack stated. "I marooned her on an island almost three months ago. I did not tell her how_ I_ escaped the island, therefore I do not know how _she_ escaped the island. Or what she is doing _here_." He concluded.

"Do you want me to distract her?" Vikki asked.

Jack grinned, "Darling, I thought you'd never ask." He then knelt down and wrapped his arms around her knees before lifting her towards the water floating on the ceiling.

"Jack!" She cried before being sucked into a whirlpool.

The dreadlocked pirate grinned and dusted his hands off before taking a seat on a rock in the cave. He would give Victoria five minutes to do her thing before he made an appearance. But for the time being, he was going to spend some time with his compass. He could really do with some rum...

**A/N: So, did anyone expect a twist of Angelica? Thanks to those who have reviewed, favourited and alerted :) Have a wonderful day! Please review :) xx**


	17. Chapter 17

**Chapter 17**

Vikki was spat from the water swirling around the floor of the cave and she lay motionless in the pool for a moment before slowly sitting up and looking around her.

It was magnificent. Pools of clear water spiraled up a grassy hill where four white marbled pillars stood around a three tiered fountain. Waterfalls streamed from the high mossy walls of the ceiling and pale pink and rosy red flowers grew up the walls in healthy green vines. Vikki was too awestruck by the beauty of the place that she failed to notice the woman walking towards her brandishing a cutlass.

"Who are you?" She asked in a thick Spanish accent.

Vikki turned to look at the woman before holding up her hands in surrender, "I'm Vikki." The brunette held out her hand.

The Spanish woman eyed Vikki curiously before slipping her hand into the brunettes, "Angelica." Angelica replied. "What're you doing here?"

Vikki had to think quickly, "My father..." She began, pretending to be wounded. "I could only find one goblet, so I came to look for the other here. He has a mermaid tear - I only need the water."

Angelica looked at Vikki sorrowfully. "I understand." She placed a hand on Vikki's shoulder as she sheathed her cutlass. "Three months ago. I came here for my father as well. But one man, and one man only is to be blamed for his death." Her face took on a serious, courageous look. "I will avenge my father."

"Who was this man?" Vikki asked, feeling as though she already knew the answer.

"Captain Jack Sparrow." Angelica stated venomously.

Vikki nodded, "I've had my own brush with that pirate." She stated, accepting the hand from Angelica to help get to her feet. "He has to be the most irritating, frustrating and annoyingly charming man I have ever met."

Angelica nodded in agreement and the two girls began to walk towards the fountain. Vikki glanced at the woman's hand from the corner of her eye, "What a beautiful ring." Vikki gestured towards the last sacred ring on Angelicas finger. She checked to see if the Spanish woman had a pistol, and upon finding nothing but a cutlass, Vikki decided to try her hand at negotiating. "I'll do a trade." She began. "The ring, for the second goblet?"

Angelica narrowed her eyes, "I thought you were doing this for your father?"

Vikki blinked, before holding a hand to her heart. "He will always chose his ship over his own life."

"You know what this ring is?" Angelica asked shocked.

Vikki nodded her head, "It's the last one I need, please!" The brunette didn't expect her negotiating to turn into pleading, and she was quite glad Jack wasn't there to witness how terrible she was at it.

"I am in no need of the goblets." Angelica stated, shaking her head at the brunette.

Vikki's mind went blank, before a thought came to her. She smirked, "I'll tell you where Jack Sparrow is."

Jack attatched his compass to his belt again before getting to his feet and preparing to go through the swirling water and towards the Fountain of Youth. However, he heard someone jump through and he grinned upon seeing Vikki. "Victoria!" He sauntered towards her.

"Jack, you need to run."

"What?" He stopped walking and watched in horror as Angelica dropped down. "Bugger." He grumbled, turning on his heel and running back out of the cave.

Angelica handed Victoria the ring. "I hope your father gets his ship back."

Vikki smiled at the Spanish woman, "I hope Jack pays for everything he's done." She replied. Angelica smiled and nodded before drawing her cutlass and taking off after the dreadlocked pirate.

"Victoria..." The voice on the water caused Vikki's eyes to widen. Knowing that she didn't need the Fountain water to give to the mermaid now that she had the last sacred ring, Vikki ran away from the cave and the voice and through the forest.

It was too bad she had given the goblet to Angelica. The Spanish woman wanted to destroy both goblets so that no one else could drink from the Fountain. If her father couldn't use it then no one else could!

Which now meant the mermaids couldn't.

As Vikki walked down the hill, she spied Jack running across a rickety wooden bridge with Angelica tailing him. The brunette darted after the two and she stopped suddenly when Jack raised his sword to cut the bridge down. Vikki screamed and gained both the attention of Jack and Angelica.

The Spanish woman then turned back to Jack, "You won't do it, Jack." She purred, "Why would you kill two women? I'll do anything..."

Jack looked from Angelica to Victoria, and upon noticing the brunette wrap her foot around the roped railings of the bridge, Jack smirked and turned back to Angelica. "Wouldn't I, love? I believe I've already left you to die once." The dreadlocked pirate then raised his sword to cut the rope, Angelica ran across the remaining planks and jumped to safety just in time as Jack sliced through the secured ties.

Vikki screamed as the bridge fell; and she along with it. She came to an abrupt halt, however, when her back hit the edge of the cliff opposite Jack. From upside down, Vikki could just about see feet flailing in the air and she frowned as she pondered about what was going on over there.

The brunette looked up at the wooden planks of the bridge before gathering all the strength she could muster to sit up and grasp one of the wooden boards of the bridge. Once she had a firm grip, she untangled her ankle from the rope and let out a cry as a sharp, agonizing pain ripped through her ankle. She placed her other foot on a wooden board and upon finding it secure, Vikki continued to climb; wincing each time her right ankle supported all her weight.

Upon reaching the top of the cliff, Vikki crawled onto the grassy edge and turned around - clutching her painful ankle.

The brunette looked up to see Jack and Angelica in the midst of a swordfight, and it looked as though the Spanish woman had the upper hand. Vikki used a tree to help her get to her feet, and she winced when her right foot made contact with the ground. Vikki watched Jack and Angelica fight for a short while before hobbling off into the trees to look for another way across the gap between the two cliffs. Not too far along, Vikki spotted a tree which had grown halfway across the large gap and she began to limp towards it. It took her longer than she'd expected to make her way towards it, and even longer to climb. She looked behind her to see that neither Jack nor Angelica where fighting on the edge of the cliff anymore, and as she didn't want to be left behind Vikki tried to climb faster.

Vikki shuffled along the branch which leant over the cliff face, and she held one of the vines in her hand tightly and yanked hard on it to test it's strength. Vikki then tied the end of the vine around her good ankle and looked down at the sandy beach far below her.

Then she felt something slithering over her leg. Vikki gulped and looked down. A long, brown spotted snake slithered across her thigh and Vikki screamed as she tried to shuffle away from the reptile. The brunette lost her balance before toppling off the branch and falling towards the beach. She stopped abruptly and grinned upon finding herself in the right position to swing on the vine across the gap and onto the land the other side.

Then she heard a tearing sound, and Vikki looked up at the branch when she felt herself slowly dropping. The vine was tearing away from the branch it had grown on and Vikki gulped as a chunk of bark fell past her.

The brunette looked down at the sand again when she heard a distant echo of clashing swords, and squinted down at the two figures duelling on the beach below her. Her eyes widened when she heard the slow tearing change into quick ripping, and once again the brunette screamed as she fell quickly and wildly towards the beach, and closer and closer towards the two figures. The two unrecognizable figures soon turned into Jack and Angelica, and Vikki realized that instead of falling towards them, she was falling on top of them!

"Jack!" She screamed. The battle paused and the dreadlocked pirate looked up, "Move!"

Captain Sparrow managed to take a step backwards before the brunette could reach the ground, but as the vine suddenly snapped back upwards, Vikki's pistol fell from her belt and caught Angelica right on the top of her head. The Spanish woman tensed before falling backwards onto the beach; her eyes closing.

Vikki bounced back and fourth, each time the jolts were smaller and smaller until eventually, she hung still. Jack frowned and walked towards Angelica, tapping her in the side with the toe of his boot.

The vine snapped and Vikki hit the sand with an 'oof' and a thud, and upon hearing the arrival of the brunette, Jack turned around and sauntered towards her, "Ah, Victoria!" He looked down at her, a grin etched onto his face, "I wondered when you were going to drop in, love."

Vikki could see three dreadlocked pirates leaning over her, and she waved her arm in front of her - trying to make them all go away. All three of them reached out a hand towards her and dragged her onto her feet. The brunette stumbled on her one leg and quickly grabbed onto the Jack she thought was the real one, but fell onto the sand again after finding out that he wasn't.

Jack frowned down at the brunette, "Was there rum that I didn't know about?"

Vikki pushed herself onto her knees and sat for a while, trying to steady herself. She pushed herself onto her feet, and quickly took her right foot off the ground; wincing. The brunette then hobbled towards Angelica and frowned at her, "I'm sorry." She stated, picking up her pistol and tucking it back into her belt. "But that really was an accident."

"It helped me out, love." Jack chuckled, kneeling down beside Angelica. He brushed a lock of hair behind her ear and his eyes widened. He pressed two fingers to her neck to feel for a pulse, and Vikki covered her mouth with her hands before dropping to her knees beside the Spanish woman. "Oops." Jack mumbled.

Vikki's eyes began to water, "I feel terrible! She was so nice!"

Jack's lip twitched, "Nice? The woman was deceiving!"

Vikki narrowed her eyes at Jack, "Only to you, she was nice to me."

Jack raised his eyebrows, "I didn't know the woman was capable of being nice." He scoffed. "Anyway, now we have to go back to the Fountain, and get the water."

Vikki grinned, "No we don't!" She held up her hand, and showed him the ring on her finger. "Angelica had it."

Jack grinned and jumped to his feet, "Well then, what are we waiting for?" He exclaimed, "Let's get me ship back!" He grabbed her wrist and pulled her to her feet before dragging her across the beach.

All thoughts of Angelica were forgotten as soon as Vikki's right foot hit the ground and she winced, pain shot up her leg. "Jack, stop!"

The dreadlocked pirate did so, and sighed in annoyance, "What is it now?" He asked, impatiently.

"My ankle." She replied, wincing.

"What do you want me to do about it?" He asked.

Vikki shrugged, "Slow down." She stated as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.

Jack grinned, "Sorry, love." He stated, "No can do. We must make haste to the _Troubadour_ and sail back to Tia Dalma."

Vikki rolled her eyes, "Fine, but even if you do hurry, you'll have to wait for me anyway-Jack!" She screamed as he put his arms behind her legs and scooped her up. "What're you doing?"

"This is a once in a lifetime opportunity, darling." He stated. "I'd make the most of this if I were you."

Vikki rolled her eyes and held on tightly as Jack carried her across the beach towards the rowboat. The wind whispered her name again and Vikki frowned, "Jack, what're we going to do about the mermaids?"

The dreadlocked pirate paused in his step, and glanced at the brunette, "Ah," He began. "We may have the teeniest, tiniest, slightest problem."

"Which would be?"

"The _Troubadour_ is more than likely going to be under attack when we sail into open sea." Jack replied, Vikki shuddered, and as they made their way furthur along the beach they could already see the mermaids circling the _Troubadour_. Circling it's prey and awaiting for the right time to attack.

**A/N: I'm so sorry for the late update! But I've had University interviews and such! **

**If anyone reading likes Assassin's Creed, then please check out the Poll on my profile :)**

**Please review xx**


	18. Chapter 18

**Chapter 18**

"Jack, Stripes!" Nigel called as they approached the rowboat. "Good t'see ye both!" His grin turned into a frown as Jack lifted Victoria through the water and sat her in the boat before hopping in beside her. "What did ye do, Stripes?" The red haired pirate asked.

"It's a long story." Vikki replied, wincing when she moved her foot.

"Isn't she beautiful..." Vikki and Nigel looked at Jack who seemed to be entranced by the beauty of a mermaid. The mermaid began to murmur something to Jack, and the dreadlocked pirate grinned; enchanted. "I don't know what you said, love, but it sounded lovely."

Vikki grimaced at it's gnarly, grey scaled features and as she beckoned for Jack to lean closer towards her, Vikki glared at her and drew her pistol, cocking it and pointing it at the creatures temple. "Back off scale face." She warned, her glare intensifying. Nigel then pulled Jack by the back of his coat and further into the rowboat, and Vikki continued to point her pistol at the slime green seaweed haired creature until she ducked back under the water.

All three of them were relieved when they finally pulled up beside the _Troubadour_, and Vikki ensured both men stepped back on deck first in case there was another mermaid mishap. She accepted the hand offered to her to help her onto the ship, and her blood ran cold upon looking up and meeting the sea green eyes of Sam. As she sat on the deck, she recoiled her hand from his and looked away from him, grateful that Mr Smith was above deck and there to tend to her ankle.

"Oi, codfish!" Jack called up to Teague; standing at the helm.

Teague sighed and looked down at his son, "Did ye get the Fountain water, Jackie?"

Captain Sparrow shook his head and skipped up to the helm, "Nope. Better. I got the last sacred ring and killed Angelica. Double bonus, eh?"

Teague shook his head, "We must be careful now men!" He called, "The mermaids have been circling us since we got 'ere. And there ain't no Fountain water for 'em."

About ten minutes later, Vikki was released from Mr Smith's cabin and was put on a wooden crutch for her ankle - which she had found out was sprained, just like her wrist had been after the battle with the crew aboard the _Merman_.

Vikki hobbled onto the main deck and eyed the grey scaled creature swimming in the ocean beside the _Troubadour_. It looked up at her and screeched before lunging onto the deck and grabbing hold of one of the crew members. He cried out, and Vikki quickly drew her pistol and shot at the mermaid's tail with a few quick shots. The rest of the crew drew their cutlasses and pistols as many more mermaids began to lunge on board and grab and attack the pirates.

Teague, Nigel and Mr Gibbs fought at the helm, whilst Sam, Jack, Vikki and the rest of the crew fought on the main deck. Vikki ushered Thomas towards the hatch and below deck before returning moments later to strike another mermaid with her wooden crutch.

Men screamed as a few were taken overboard the railings of the _Troubadour_ and into the depths of the ocean below.

Although she was a woman, it was Vikki's fault that the mermaids were attacking the ship and based on that logic, Vikki pondered why no mermaids were targeting her. The brunette continued to shoot mermaids and hit them with her crutch as she made her way across the deck towards the helm. Teague could not battle them as he had to man the ship, and only Nigel and her father were up there. She stepped onto the helm and brought her crutch down on a mermaids head with a resounding crack before she knocked her off of the railing and back into the sea.

More men were lost overboard, and others fled the main deck into the hatch. Vikki pulled the Fountain goblet from her belt, and hobbled down the steps to the helm upon spotting the green seaweed haired mermaid she had made the bargain with who was currently creeping up on Jack who was fighting off two mermaids. Vikki stood in front of the two legged grey creature and held up the goblet. The mermaid's eyes widened and held her hands out for it eagerly and urgently.

"The other goblet was lost." She said to her.

The mermaid looked up and a look of knowing crossed her face, "Give me the goblet...goblet." She demanded.

"You want the goblet," The brunette began, holding her pistol directly at it. "Call off the attack."

The mermaid smirked, her pointed teeth protruding over her thin, grey lips before she let out a resounding cry. Vikki winced before throwing the goblet towards the ocean and taking aim. Once the goblet was about to began it's decent into the ocean, Vikki fired her pistol and the goblet shot further away from the _Troubadour_; effectively ridding the ship of one mermaid as the creature dived into the ocean to go and retrieve the object of her desire.

The fight continued, and Vikki made her way back up to the helm, cracking her wooden crutch into the back of a mermaid Buck had been fleeing from as the creature flopped across the deck after him. '_Not all of them can grow legs._' Vikki noted, only seeing two mermaids running across the deck of the _Troubadour_.

As Jack shot one of the mermaids flopping across the deck towards him, the _Troubadour_ was met with silence. Everyone looked around the ship, looking and listening for any splashes in the ocean.

"I think they've all gone, Cap'n!" One of the remaining, brave crew members cheered.

Before the Captain could say anything, a pair of pale, wet hands grabbed onto his upper arms from behind and Teague was pulled towards the railings of the _Troubadour_. But just before he was pulled off the ship and into the depths below, Teague was released from the fish-tailed woman's hold and fell onto the deck, dropping his cutlass onto the wood with a clatter. He looked up to see Stripes holding her wooden crutch in her hand and looking over the railing of the ship, wincing at the ear piercing screech of the mermaid as she fell into the water.

"They've certainly gone now." She stated as Nigel helped his Captain to his feet.

"I suggest we stick to shallow waters," Jack said, dancing up to the helm and leaning on Vikki's crutch. "They won't follow us there." He turned to the brunette standing beside him, "What did you do with the Fountain goblet we found?" He asked. "If they try and attack again, we can negotiate with it." Vikki smiled at him innocently, causing Jack's grin to drop. "You still have it, don't you?"

"You see, I said I'd give it to them if the attack was called off." She began. "But she screamed at me so..." She cast her eyes down at the deck, "I shot it into the ocean."

Jack stared at her, his emotions well hidden, "Oh dear." He turned around, taking the crutch with him. "I'm going to need some rum, my plan's work better when I have a good head on."

Vikki almost toppled over as Jack walked away with her crutch, and Teague held onto her elbow to give her some support, "Jackie." Teague began. "I can guarantee you they will not attack again. We're too far past Mermaid Cove."

"Oh, good." Jack stated, passing the wooden crutch to Buck before disappearing into the hatch.

"Back to yer stations!" Teague ordered the crew members which were on deck, he then smirked upon seeing and island off in the distance. "Stripes, would ye go and find Sam and tell him that he's needed, immediately."

"Aye, Captain." Vikki hobbled down the steps of the helm and thanked Buck when he handed her crutch back to her, they then walked together towards the hatch and below deck. They both made their way towards the crews quarters, and upon finding Sam absent from the room, Vikki frowned and descended another flight of stairs.

Upon finding the blonde absent from the kitchen and the room where the crew played poker, Vikki made her way into the hull to find Jack...but no Sam. Vikki turned to leave, but Jack stopped her.

"Don't leave on my account, love."

Vikki turned around again, "I was looking for Sam." She stated. "But I can't find him anywhere."

Jack frowned and took another swig of rum before leaning forward in his chair, "Did it not occur to you that he may have been taken into the ocean by a beautiful, fish-tailed woman?" Jack smirked, "Saw it with me own eyes, love. He's not here anymore."

Vikki looked down at the wooden floor before nodding, "I suppose that's better than being left on an island."

Jack smirked, "He was fooled by a woman playing his own game. Can't think of anything better or worse-" Jack cut himself short upon realizing that he had just recited a wedding vow. They both avoided all possible eye contact, and the brunette turned on her heel and left the room without another word. She hadn't thought about their marriage since it had happened, and after the battle with the mermaids, Vikki did not want to think about it. As soon as Jack had his ship back, Vikki was sure she would never see him again...or her father. She fought the tears threatening to fall as she hobbled onto the main deck and limped up towards the helm.

"Captain?" She called. "Sam went overboard with a mermaid."

"Well then," Teague chuckled. "Let's not waste time stopping here then! To Tia Dalma!"

The crew cheered and set to work, and as Vikki hobbled down the steps of the helm, a hand rested on her shoulder and she looked up at her father and smiled. They walked down the hatch together and made their way into the hull to get some rum - where Jack was still sitting, and on his third bottle. Vikki and Mr Gibbs both got themselves a bottle of rum before joining Jack at the table and it wasn't long before they were all drunk and singing to their hearts content.

"Yo ho, yo ho, and a bottle of rum!" Mr Gibbs raised his bottle to his lips and downed the last drop before getting to his feet. "I bid ye goodnight," He planted a kiss on the top of his daughters head before walking towards the door. "Vic," He started once he got to the door. "Don't drink all o' the rum!" He chuckled before leaving.

The room turned silent, and as Vikki turned back to her bottle of rum, she saw Jack placing a fresh one in front of her, "Drink up me 'earties, yo ho." He stated, taking the seat across from her once again.

"Jack," Vikki began. "Can I tell you something I haven't told anyone?"

The dreadlocked pirate took a swig of his rum, "Fire away!" He encouraged her with a small wink.

"Every time we've gone to find one of the rings, I felt like I've known where they are."

Jack frowned, "What do you mean, love?"

"Well, every time we've been close to one I've...felt something." She stated. "Like a tingling feeling in my stomach. I don't know how to explain, but it's been a feeling where I know that the ring is the ring."

Jack frowned at her, "That's not what I expected you to say at all."

"Huh?" Vikki asked, in confusion.

Jack shot her a charming grin, "I thought you were going to tell me how you could no longer resist my charms, and that you had fallen undeniably in love with me."

Vikki's mouth fell open, "What?" Jack just grinned at her in response, and Vikki soon smirked at him. "Keep telling yourself that, Jack."

"Of course, love." He replied, "But you'll come over to my side sooner than you think." He grinned, "When you join me crew, for example-"

"-I'm joining your crew?"

"Aye," Jack replied. "You can't possibly think I'm going to be the one to part you from your father? In the same way that you can't possibly depart me from me faithful first mate, savvy?"

"Thank you, Jack."

The dreadlocked pirate's grin turned to a smile, "Don't mention it, darling."

Vikki hobbled to her feet and propped her crutch under her arm, "It's getting late." She said. As Vikki stood up and turned around, Jack was there behind her and it had to be the first time she had ever seen him...nervous.

"Forgive me, Victoria, if my actions are too bold..." He began, gently cupping her cheek with his hand. Slowly, he leant towards her until Vikki could feel his lips barely touching hers. Was he waiting for her? As her wooden crutch hit the floor with a clatter, Vikki closed her eyes and stood on her tiptoes to meet Jack's lips with her own. The kiss was soft and gentle, and as Vikki ran her hands up Jack's chest and wrapped her arms around his neck, Jack did the same around her waist - pulling her closer to his chest and deepening the kiss.

"Don't mind me, I'm just gettin' meself some rum." Footsteps crossed the room behind them; effectively ruining the moment.

They pulled away from each other within a split second, "Ah, I was er, looking for me compass." Jack smiled innocently.

"Aye, that ye were." Teague chuckled, grabbing a bottle of rum and turning to leave, "But I don't think yer'll find it in Victoria's mouth, Jackie. It's on yer belt."

**A/N: I know I do not update very often anyway, but just to inform you all that this story will be on hold for a while.**

**One of my close friends passed away on Friday, he collapsed when playing a game of football and suffered a heart attack.**

**I hope you can understand, and hopefully I will update soon. Thank you xx**


	19. Chapter 19

**Chapter 19**

The next morning, Vikki ensured there were other crew members on the main deck before she hobbled above. After what had happened the previous night, she couldn't imagine how awkward it would be if she was alone on the deck with Captain Teague. She momentarily cringed, and as her hangover headache flared she made her way along the corridor towards the kitchen for a glass of water. She hobbled into the room using her wooden crutch for support and as she replenished her thirst and waited for the hangover nausea to pass, she hobbled back out of the room and towards the main deck.

"Ye can't do much up 'ere, Stripes." Nigel stated as he walked by her. "Swabbing the deck and teaching Tom to fight ain't on the list either."

Vikki sighed. It looked like her job was to drink all the rum down in the hatch.

And that was exactly what she was going to do.

As she hobbled back down the stairs, Vikki passed a few crew members who eyed her up. She shivered involuntarily and continued on down the hallway, praying that they would get to Tia Dalma's as soon as possible so she could leave the sleazy crew members behind. She stepped into the hull and grabbed a bottle of rum before taking a seat on one of the chairs beside a table - leaning her crutch up against the side of it as she pulled the cork out from the neck of the bottle and took a long swig; wincing as the alcohol burned down her throat.

The brunette watched as Jack swaggered into the hull and grabbed his own bottle. He examined the contents before turning to leave, but upon noticing the brunette sitting at the table, he stopped in his tracks - his hands in mid-air. Jack frowned, "What're you doing in here, love?" He asked.

Vikki held up her crutch, "I've been told that there's not much I can do." She replied, not able to meet his eyes with her own for fear of falling under his charm again.

"Oh dear," Jack replied. "Well then, seeing as my job aboard this ship is unfortunately not manning the helm as it would be on the _Pearl_, I must therefore grace you with my presence." He took the seat in the chair opposite the brunette, placing his feet ontop of the table and flashing Vikki a charming grin. "You should be honored, love."

Vikki took another swig of her rum, "Of course I'm honored, Jack." She replied, "But I don't want to be keeping you-"

"-Darling, I'm sure me da would understand." Jack winked at her, "But Mr Gibbs on the other hand, might feel a little left out of the loop. We do spend a lot of time together, you know. Have you noticed? I've certainly noticed, even when I've been finding these rings."

"I've been finding the rings too, Jack."

Jack nodded as if just remembering, "Ah, yes, I forget to mention you assisted me in the findings of them."

Vikki rolled her eyes, "And accidentally aided in the killing of the man in Port Royal, got the second ring from the Pelegostos camp, got the third ring from the ceiling of the cave in Isle de Muerta, broke us out of the Merman's brig," She paused for breath, "Negotiated the ring from Angelica - and accidentlly killed her."

Jack frowned, "I seem to not give you enough credit in our adventures." He stated, taking a swig of rum. "But you did get us into a horrible predicament on the _Merman_, where now the both of us are..." He gagged on the word, "Savvy?"

Vikki blinked. "Well? What're we going to do about it?"

"I have a wonderful idea!" Jack got to his feet and finished his bottle of rum in one gulp, "I'm so glad you asked, love." He grinned. "How about, we battle it out and whoever loses has to come up with the answer to your question?"

Vikki frowned, "That's not fair." She pointed to her wooden crutch. "I can hardly walk."

Jack drew his cutlass and pointed it at her collarbone, "I believe I was going to win anyway." He stated, tipping his hat. "Therefore I-" He cut himself short once Vikki drew her pistol and pointed it towards him. "Bugger."

"There's also the idea of getting you out of the picture so I can carry on with my life."

Jack frowned, "I like that idea, love. But I'm not very fond on being the one to die." He stated pointedly.

"Well neither am I." Vikki replied.

"Then it isn't a very good idea."

"Weapons away, you two." Buck stated as he stepped into the room, "Or shall I have to get the Captain?" Vikki and Jack looked at each other before sheathing their weapons, Buck stepped further into the room and got two bottles of rum; one for himself and one for the Captain. He then eyed the two one last time before eventually leaving them once again. Vikki and Jack glared at each other before taking their seats again and sipping from their rum bottles.

The silence was neither bearable nor awkward, and as Jack finished his first rum and got up to get another Vikki couldn't help herself but run her eyes up and down his body. This was probably the first time she had appreciated him without his coat. He had manly broad shoulders, and through the back of his shirt Vikki could see the muscles in his back - and that was what she liked. His arms were muscled and so were his legs, and his bum!-

-Vikki looked away as Jack turned around again and she fought against the blush threatening to cross her features.

"What?" Jack asked, looking in the same direction the brunette was.

"Nothing. I thought I saw..." She trailed off, what did she see other than Jack's manly, muscled-

-"Saw what?" The dreadlocked pirate broke through her distracted thoughts.

"A...squirrel?"

Jack frowned at her, and as he reached the table again he leant over and prised her bottle of rum from her hands, "I believe you've had enough of this." Vikki stood up and reached for it, but Jack was too quick, "There would be no squirrel on the _Troubadour_, love." Jack smirked, "You're blushing." Her blush deepened, and Jack's smirk grew. "Unless of course you were looking at me?" If it was possible, her face heated even more. "Finally! We're getting somewhere now." He took another swig of his rum and picked up Vikki's wooden crutch before the brunette could reach for it herself.

"What're you doing?" Vikki asked, hopping on her foot.

"Stopping you from leaving me all on me onesie." Jack replied, "And I want to have a go." Vikki crossed her arms and sighed as she watched Jack use her wooden crutch...but at least the topic had been changed. "How the bloody hell do you use this?"

Vikki shrugged, and swooned when her eyes met Jack's molten chocolate pools. "I don't know." She got up, fighting the blush threatening to show on her face, "May I have my crutch back please?"

Jack smirked, "Of course, darling." The dreadlocked pirate held her gaze for a second longer before he teasingly leant down, pulling against the crutch in his hand to bring the brunette closer towards him. Her breath hitched in her throat at their close proximity. Vikki tried and failed to look away from Jack's enchanting eyes, and this only caused the dreadlocked pirate to grin in satisfaction.

Jack's eyes were soon drawn away from her's, and his grin widened. Vikki felt something sharp pointed right at her abdomen. Upon looking down, Vikki looked up at glared at Jack who was now holding her at the end of his cutlass. How dare he play her like that! Vikki glared at Jack with such intensity that his smirk faltered. Quickly, she reached for her pistol and hit him over the head with the hilt of it. He stumbled backwards in surprise, "Now that's not very nice." He stated, waggling a bejeweled finger at her.

"Neither is being put under the point of a cutlass."

"But at least I didn't hit you with it, love." Jack rubbed the side of his head. "And you're bewitching me with those eyes!"

Vikki frowned in disbelief, "That's you!" She cried out.

Jack grabbed her by the wrist and pulled her close to his chest again, "I could look at those eyes all night." He murmured.

Ocean blue eyes melted into Jack's molten chocolate pools. She knew then that she wanted him. She wanted him more than she had any other man before...although that meant Jack as the only one. The brunette dropped her pistol onto the deck with a thud moments before she lunged for Jack, her lips connecting with his in a lust-filled kiss. The dreadlocked pirate was taken aback from surprise, before he kissed her back with equal wanting.

Their lust led them towards the wooden table and Jack immediately swiped his hand across it, scattering the deck of cards onto the floor and smashing a few empty rum bottles in the process as he laid the brunette on the table and climbed ontop of her.

But their moment of lust was short lived.

Again.

From the doorway, someone coughed to signal their presence. Jack and Vikki froze with their lips still connected before slowly parting their kiss to see who had interrupted them. Nigel stood in the doorway, smirking at the two almost-lovers caught positioned on the table. He chuckled, "Didn't think ye had it in ye, Stripes." He chuckled, crossing the room to grab a couple of bottles of rum. "Ye might wanna finish up quick - the boys'll be comin' in to play poker shortly."

"Oh dear," Jack stated once Nigel left the room. "We seem to be caught in a bit of a predicament, Victoria." He grinned down at the slightly flushed brunette underneath him. He hopped off of the table before Victoria scrambled off after him, bending down to pick her wooden crutch up from the floor. "Perhaps one day you'll finish what you start, eh?" Jack grinned at the brunette before tilting his hat towards her as he turned away and headed towards the hatch which led towards the main deck.

"What _I_ start?" Vikki grumbled as she began walking along the corridor towards her own cabin. "Well, okay I started that." Heat coloured her cheeks when she remembered Nigel's expression when he had seen their position on the table and she shivered upon remembering the warmth and weight of his body over hers.

Her blush deepened when she thought about how far they would've gone if Nigel hadn't have walked in on them. Vikki cringed and placed her hands on either side of her face, _'I can't believe that just happened!'_

**A/N: I didn't expect to be gone for this long. Obviously the death of my friend hit me harder than I thought it did :/ But thanks to my family and friends, and some very special inbox messages from you guys, I'm feeling much better now :) From the bottom of my heart, I thank you!**

**Please review :) xx**


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